Frozen Hearts
by Forbidden Moons
Summary: She has a frozen heart, and so does he, but for different reasons. When the two powerful and similar people become allies, will the ice within their hearts create something more? Loki/OC (his equal). Happy ending.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Alright, darlings, I know I said that this ought to be a sequel to my Legend of the Seeker story _Through the Chilly Mist_. Well, haha, I lied. ^_^ My first Loki/OC story will not be about my OC in that story, after all. Worry not, I will still update all of my stories! Please review, or just favourite or follow this story, please! Thanks for reading, darlings!

Please understand that this would not be the typical Loki love story. Meaning that the girl would not be the innocent, good little saint and our favourite villain would not 'turn good'. They will not be enemies and the girl would not say things like 'No, I will never help you! You evil monster! Good always wins!' Yucks... Well, I promise a happy ending for both of them, okay?

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Thor. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have had a perfectly evil powerful girlfriend and a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**/^****Frozen Hearts****^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Sapphira was a most unusual girl in every way possible. She was extremely powerful at magic, feared and worshipped throughout the whole world of magical people. Sapphira was not human, but a demi-goddess. The daughter of a Greek god, Morpheus the God of Dreams to be exact. Her mother was Morgan Le Fay, unfortunately long dead. Before you start bursting with indignant questions, please be patient and understand Sapphira's family history and unique situation.

When she was born, a prophecy was made. She was said to bring darkness and chaos to the mortal world that history had never witnessed, and her full powers, if awakened, will be strong enough to overthrow Zeus. It took the joint efforts of every deity in the Underworld to persuade the universal ruler not to murder the child. A war caused by this quarrel almost raged. In the end of the negotiation, Sapphira's family promise to never make her completely immortal, but the king, in turn, must swear to never interfere with the child's life. Zeus, caught between of being overthrown _right then _by the ancient dark divinities or being _possibly _overthrown in the future, agreed. What he did not realise then was that the deal did not forbid the girl to use her own powers to become immortal. Morpheus, already expecting Zeus to realise his mistake anytime, secretly used his own illusion powers to deceive almost everyone else into believing that his daughter was dead. The only people who knew the truth were Nyx, his mother, Thanatos and Hypnus, his brothers, Hades, Lord of the Underworld, and Hecate, the Goddess of Magic. All these divinities shared a single aim: to defeat Zeus. And their most assured hope was the prophecy child, Sapphira. They made her exceptionally powerful, but she was not fully immortal. The little girl had long since grown into a young lady, and accepted her destiny and potential. She spent a few centuries' time to learn magic, her power growing every single day. Sapphira's own ambition to take over the human world first made her try an almost crazily dangerous spell that was supposed to make her invincible, but the unexpected price was that her heart was frozen. Hecate, upon hearing the situation, gave Sapphira the ability to unfreeze it, but once she did so, she would live in terrible pain. So from that day on, Sapphira remained with a frozen heart, almost impossible to go through emotions and sheltered from human weaknesses.

She found that she preferred the way she was. But deep inside, Sapphira hoped that one day, someone will come into her life and make her feel again, to melt a little bit of her heart without causing her pain.

Present time, Sapphira returned to reality from her thoughts and memories. She had tried to take over the wizarding world by helping the powerful dark wizard, Voldemort years ago. But he was mortal, after all, and in the end, despite all their trying, he perished at the hand of a silly little boy. Sapphira was very angry, more so at herself than at the failure. She had almost _felt _something for the handsome Tom Riddle the teenager! No, no, human emotions were something she can never afford to experience. Love made people weak, power made you strong.

Sapphira smiled emotionlessly into the gold-rimmed mirror of her bedroom. She still appeared a girl of fifteen, or if she applied darker and more mature make-up, seventeen or twenty at the most. A side effect and a gift for being frozen the inside out. She was beautiful beyond human imagination: hair as dark as the gloomiest midnight, pale skin, perfectly shaped rosy lips. The thing that stood out most about her appearance, however, was her eyes. They can only be described as chilling and magical - the most electric sapphire blue at the rim, but near the middle there were radial patterns of pale blue that seemed to be floating ice. The pupils, catlike. Countless people shuddered at the eeriness of Sapphira's eyes, but she knew that they symbolised her power over ice and hearts. She gazed at her perfect image for another minute, then the boredom produced by her frozen heart started to take over, and she immediately stood up, dressed in an exquisite black dress, black heels. Dark make-up to not be thought as a little girl. As usual, she plucked a lovely poppy flower from her many, _many _poppy vases, wore it on her hair, and walked out of her apartment. Because of all those damned people who wanted her dead or captured, Sapphira now had to flee from Britain and actually Europe all together - she cannot afford a scene when she was still not fully ready to show the world who and what she truly was. So now, she had to stay in this pathetic modern city full of filthy muggles - New York. (A/N: No offense to Americans, I merely wrote this sentence to fit in the plot.)

The moment she stepped outside, however, a wave of electric current seemed to hit her. She gasped. The source of raw power was almost _hypnotizing_, excuse the irony. It was the closest to a true feeling she had felt in real life for a very long time. Sapphira at once closed her eyes and followed the pull of the alluring power. It was new, completely. As if it did not come from this universe, but perhaps that was exactly the case. She teleported herself to the location, wherever it was, and when she opened her eyes once more she groaned as she recognised where she was - S.H.I.E.L.D. Great, just where she need to be, the universally famous Department of Shits. Some of her useful minions were defeated by this accursed department, hope all the supposed Avengers rot in Tartarus. In spite of the slight disappointment, Sapphira proceeded toward the direction where the power was calling. A guard saw her and started walking toward her.

'Miss, how did you get in? This is - ' Before he even started to call for his superiors, Sapphira acted quickly and pulled his heart of, in an instant freezing it, before shoving it back to his chest. At once the man's once brown eyes turned a strange frozen pale white-blue colour, like the patterns in her own eyes. His face looked blank as he automatically kneeled before the girl known as the Mistress of Hearts.

'Mistress, how may I - ' The man was cut off almost instantly, however, by his impatient Mistress.

'Tell me, did anything strange happen here, tonight?' Sapphira questioned quickly.

'Yes, there is something called a Tasseract in that room, and just now it shot out some strange blue light, and oh, a strange man appeared, we are told to stop him if he comes our way, and...' The guard's eyes suddenly widened fearfully, 'Mistress, you have to hide! I need to protect you! I think that man is coming this way right now, the voice, wait, I need to call for help - '

'Oh I don't think so.' Sapphira replied in a bored voice, 'Kill yourself, now.'

At her command, the guard at once dropped dead on the spot, clutching his chest as he went down to the floor.

She looked around, and before she can continue walking, a man with a scepter appeared with a few followers. Sapphira narrowed her eyes curiously. Incredible power was radiating off him and the scepter in magical waves, and she almost lost herself in the wonderful scent of power. Not the raw power that she felt earlier, but extremely powerful nevertheless. The most fascinating was that the magical energy that drew her here in the first place seemed to be, for some reason, in the suitcase carried by one of the followers. Sapphira decided not to mention it straight away, though. She took her sweet time to take in his appearance at the same time that she seemed to be observing hers. He had dark, slicked back hair, pale skin, thin lips that even Sapphira the Ice Queen herself had to admit as sexy, and such coldly bewitching green-blue eyes. That man was just as inhumanly handsome as he was powerful.

A brief but magnetic eye contact confirmed that the appreciation worked both ways.

A short but welcoming silence followed before the man smirked, real charming, and Sapphira found herself doing the same thing at exactly the same moment.

'Mind talking outside this place, my lady? I've got a hundred guards on my tail already.' He flashed her a confident smile, showing perfect white teeth.

'Why, of course, my lord.' She replied, equally polite, gladly enjoying a civilised and well-educated conversation in the land of mortals for once.

They left the place quite smoothly, with the mysterious man's servants shooting about a dozen guards along the way. Sapphira casted bored glances at the bodies, and she can feel the other stealing curious glances at her cool attitude toward killings. She observed the servants, and noticed that their eyes were all a glowing blue colour like the gemstone on the scepter, and all their faces were strangely yet familiarly blank. Sapphira smirked. The scepter must have the power to control people. Interesting.

They seemed to be going into some kind of a basement, and it was obvious that the man prepared for her bombarding questions. She surprised him by speaking nothing. Why should she ask questions before even arriving at a suitable room? It was not as if she had anything to fear. Sapphira was a soon-to-be goddess, after all. And then again, she _cannot _feel fear. Or anything else almost for that matter.

At last, they reached what was apparently their final destination. A meeting room of some sort, decorated with green, black and gold. In fact, the colour tune here was almost all like this - someone's favourite colours, obviously.

'Leave and take care of _it_.' The man commanded, voice the same silky quality that Sapphira enjoyed particularly.

'Yes, master.' The servants responded monotonously before quickly exiting the room, leaving the two of them alone.

'So, I suppose that an introduction is in order, Lady...?'

'Sapphira, my lord.' She answered.

'Beautiful name, fitting,' He cocked his head to the sky and narrowed his eyes, 'I can feel it, you are powerful. You are not human, are you?'

'Are you?' Sapphira echoed slyly.

He smirked at her, as if satisfied. 'No, indeed I'm not. I am Loki, the God of Mischief and Lies.'


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Please review, or just favourite or follow this story, please! Thanks for reading, darlings!

Please understand that this would not be the typical Loki love story. Meaning that the girl would not be the innocent, good little saint and our favourite villain would not 'turn good'. They will not be enemies and the girl would not say things like 'No, I will never help you! You evil monster! Good always wins!' Yucks... Well, I promise a happy ending for both of them, okay?

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Thor. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Worlds and had a perfectly evil powerful girlfriend and a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**/^****Frozen Hearts****^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

For almost the first time ever, Sapphira must honestly admit to herself that she-who-cannot-feel herself was surprised.

Genuinely shocked, actually. But the fact would explain so much.

She could feel the man - Loki's careful gaze on her, as if waiting for laughter or an outburst. But Sapphira merely shrugged lightly before a rare, small smile crept to her perfect lips. 'A Norse God? I am surprised. I was taught that you do not exist, only the Greek divinities do. Must talk to my father about it soon.'

'You are not afraid.' It was more of a statement.

'No.. Why should I be?' Sapphira replied, smirking.

A silenced followed that answer.

'Who are you really?' He asked finally, 'Somehow I find it hard to believe that you would be a Midgardian mortal.'

'I am no mortal, Lord Loki.' She sounded the slightest bit insulted, 'Nor am I a Midgardian, as you call it. I am the daughter of Morpheus, the Greek God of Dreams. You may not have heard of me as a goddess, that's because I am technically a demi-goddess. My mother was a very powerful sorceress, and I am blessed with more powers than all the other pure-blooded deities.'

'Ah, I see, that explains the poppy flower...' He drawled, but Sapphira can see the surprised and impressed emotions dancing in his beautiful eyes for the briefest moment, 'Funny, Odin said that you Greeks do not exist as well. What a coincidence.'

She chuckled, this one's sense of humour was dry and sarcastic, just like her own. 'Coincidence indeed. So you are the adoptive brother of Thor the Oaf, I presume? No offense.'

Loki laughed darkly. 'None taken. I rather agree with the title you gave him, though, most fitting.' Then his eyes seemed to sparkle, 'I wonder, what are you the goddess of?'

Sapphira raised her head higher proudly. 'It is still not completely decided, but in all probability I will be the Goddess of Ice, Hearts and Illusions, a.k.a. of cruelty, control and deception.'

'Oh, how so?' He raised an elegant eyebrow and she sighed.

'A curious one, aren't you? Just feel my body temperature. Here, touch my hand.' Sapphira raised her hand toward him, giving Loki a wonderful glimpse at her long, slender fingers and dark purple nails.

He locked her eyes with his and carefully placed his hand on hers. The moment their skin touched, Sapphira gasped, her eyes widening. Their body temperatures were almost exactly the same below-freezing temperature, but that was not important. What made her floating with happiness was that... Wait, since when did she _ever _feel happy after the Ice Curse? There was a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest that made her feel warmer. Strange. Loki's eyes mirrored equal shock - did he feel it too? Sapphira prayed that this wonderful moment will not end, happiness felt the best thing in the world! She smiled widely.

'Your eyes...' He whispered in near awe, 'They are not icy anymore. The white-blue tints in them are gone, they are fully sapphire blue now. How...?'

He took his hand off and Sapphira inhaled sharply. She can literally _feel _her heart freezing once more and the brief emotion was gone. Fortunately enough, she did not miss it, but she cannot help but think that the empty feeling she felt everyday was not as nice as an _actual _feeling.

She smiled emotionlessly at Loki, both her cold demeanor and the Mischief God's aristocratic arrogance returning. 'My hearts is frozen, Loki. It has been like that for the past five centuries, so I do not have to feel human emotions. But when our skin made contact, however, it seems that the Ice Curse has temporarily broken. Most curious, don't you think? And why is _your _body temperature as low as mine? You are obviously not cursed like me.'

A slightly sad look crossed the god's handsome features. 'Well, that would explain your unnatural lack of reactions. And I am not really an Asgardian, you see, I'm - '

'Oh, right, a Frost Giant, I almost forgot.' Sapphira muttered carelessly.

'How did you know that?' Loki asked suspiciously.

'Read some books, _Norse_!' She snapped.

'Well, I, unlike you obviously, _Greek_, do not enjoy wasting time in reading stupid Midgardian books!' He shot back.

Two pairs of icy blue eyes glared at each other for a few minutes. Sapphira, however, was satisfied, as usual, when she played her usual assume-I-can-actually-feel game. She had learnt through experience to fake some almost emotions to ease the emptiness within.

'Well, aren't you going to show me?' She asked finally, tone light and uncaring.

'Show you what?'

'Your true self, of course. I would like to see it.' Sapphira said quietly, ignoring the incredulous stare Loki was giving her.

'I don't think so. I had barely met you, why should I? After all, you are going to call me a monster soon enough, so why demand to torture yourself with something more disgusting?' He sounded cold and careless but she noticed the almost pain in them. Sapphira briefly wondered what it would be like to feel emotional pain.

'I would never call you a monster, Loki. Who do you think I am, a saint? Nay, I'm a _heartless_ murderer.' She rolled her eyes. Never have thought that the God of Lies would be so childish.

'I don't doubt that. Why else would I bring you in here instead of killing you on sight?' He smirked. 'If you are really who you claim to be, I can use your assistance.'

Sapphira looked at him calculatingly through natural long think eyelashes. 'And, pray tell, dear prince, what is it in for me?'

Loki, apparently, had expected the question and had prepared for it thoroughly. 'You mentioned that you are still a demi-goddess...'

'Yes...?'

'What if, say, I can let you become a full goddess?' He purred, slyly touching Sapphira's face, making skin contact.

She quickly slapped his hand off before the emotions can start to set in. The last thing she needed right now was to allow emotions cloud her judgement of probably one of the most important deals in her life.

Loki hymphed in irritation but did not try again. 'Well?'

'How would you know,' Began Sapphira slowly and carefully, 'that becoming a full goddess is not what I desire most?'

He paused for a second. 'Tell me, then, what is your biggest desire?'

She hesitated. Can she risk to tell Loki about her situation - how Zeus wanted her dead, how she craved to take over the world, and how Olympus was doomed to fall at her hand? She did not fancy the idea of trusting anyone, let alone the God of Lies. But certainly, Sapphira reasoned, it would not hurt to inform him of the general situation but leave out the important details.

'Taking over the mortal world, of course.' She answered finally, 'Those ignorant _muggles _are born lower than us. They do not deserve to rule, they can only _be _ruled.'

'I most certainly agree.' Loki replied at once, before smirking. 'In fact, you would be glad to know that we have exactly the same goal.'

A truly evil smile crept its way to Sapphira's lips. 'Excellent. So if I help you, we will rule the world together, as equals, and you will make me completely immortal?'

His expression was fierce and determined. 'Then, do we have a deal?'

'We have a deal.' Sapphira's voice rang clearly as the Unbreakable Vow was automatically casted between them, magical lights intertwining their fingers before they disappeared all together.

The deal was struck.

A deal that would change the future of the Nine Worlds - and their own.

'Good, then,' Loki said in satisfaction, 'now we are officially allies, we can share our information.'

'I do not think it is wise,' Sapphira replied immediately, 'you are the God of Lies; you can betray me in a second. I am the Goddess of Deception; I can betray _you _in a blink. Trust is not possible. Not. Possible.'

'Ah, but you forgot the rules of the Unbreakable Vow: _The two that made the Vow must honour their words. The two that made the Vow must not seek to break it... _Blah, blah, blah..._ If it is a Vow of alliance and friendship, the two that made the Vow must be true toward each other. They cannot not tell others of the secrets that hid in both of them. They cannot betray each other... _So you see, no risk really.'

Sapphira was almost _fuming_. So she cannot use Loki's secrets against him?!

'I...see. That is wonderful. I am _most _relieved.' She forced out drily and he grinned at her smugly.

'Well in that case, do you have something you wish to tell me, _ally_?' Loki asked confidently.

I am not going to tell him any of my secrets. Sapphira thought but her eyes widened as an invisible, irresistible force commanded her lips open. She gulped, trying to fight it, but to no use. 'I am destined to overthrow Zeus and he wanted me dead but he do not even know I am alive I can feel the power of the Tasseract and I want to know what it is I want that power!'

Sapphira gritted her teeth as Loki smiled. 'Well, isn't that interesting?'

She breathed deeply before she smiled slyly herself. 'Tell me the reason why you want to rule Midgard, what exactly _is _the Tasseract, _ally_.'

Ooh, she was going to enjoy this very, _very _much.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thank you, darlings, for being one of the first to favourite and follow my story! I will appreciate it as well if you leave a simple review, though.

Please understand that this would not be the typical Loki love story. Meaning that the girl would not be the innocent, good little saint and our favourite villain would not 'turn good'. They will not be enemies and the girl would not say things like 'No, I will never help you! You evil monster! Good always wins!' Yucks... Well, I promise a happy ending for both of them, okay?

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Thor. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Worlds and had a perfectly evil powerful girlfriend and a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**/^****Frozen Hearts****^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

As Sapphira expected, Loki was forced to spill as well. He was forced to tell her all about his unfortunate childhood of being always the second-favourite, of being overshadowed by Thor every second, of discovering his true heritage, and finally, of falling into the dark abyss and meeting the Chitauri, striking a deal with them. You see, it was the Tasseract in exchange for the world. By the end of his speech, Loki had gone into a _very _bad mood, much to Sapphira's satisfaction.

'Well, _isn't that interesting_?' She had just began to taunt him when Loki suddenly and firmly took her hand in his, making her heart unfreeze and the emotions appear. But this time, it was longer. And painful. She was forced to go through her fear of failure and her constant worry of being discovered by Zeus or one of the Olympians. Artemis especially - the Huntress had almost splitted Sapphira in half once with one of her poisoned arrows! She was drawn further into her weak emotions, first the grief of losing her best witch friend to the muggles and left to burn at the stake, while Sapphira watched. Then the surprising pain and disappointment she now felt vividly when Tom Riddle completely turned into Voldemort and when he was killed before her eyes. And finally, the sympathy and overwhelming sadness she should have felt after Loki confessed to her about his terrible childhood instead of mocking him about it...

Without her even realising it, Sapphira already had crystal-clear tears streaming down her face. The emotions were frightening, torturing, and overwhelming. For the first time in hundreds of years, the Ice Queen was crying uncontrollably, not even trying to push Loki's hand away - her head was not clear enough to do so.

Sapphira looked up at the startled green-blue eyes blurred by her own tears. 'Stop it, make them go away, please...'

'I... I'm sorry, I didn't know...' Loki stuttered uncharacteristically as he, too forgot about the skin contact and reached out to awkwardly stroke her hair, in desperate attempt to calm her. Then, as if finally realising what he was doing to her, he released her hand as if he touched fire, and drew back carefully, observing her reactions.

Sapphira's mourning was suddenly mercifully put onto an end as she felt the welcoming sweet coldness set in, and she inhaled deeply, enjoying the freedom from her haunting emotions.

Her head suddenly snapped up, and a cold, emotionless mask settled on her face as she rapidly turned and ran out of the room, not hearing Loki's call from behind.

Sapphira had never expected her true self to be so _weak _and utterly defenseless. She was disappointed at herself, and lost and certain. It was time she paid a visit to her father; he _always _knew what to do.

Removing the poppy from her hair, she held the little red flower in her hands, muttering a familiar incantation. At once, Sapphira felt herself lighten and she disappeared in a shower of poppy illusions. When she reopened her eyes, she was standing in front of the House of Dreams, home of Morpheus. Sapphira smiled in content. The Underworld of Hades was absolutely _perfect_, with its mysterious galaxy-like sky and dark surroundings, and the sweet scent of death, destruction and power floating in the air. Sapphira felt right at home.

The House of Dreams was utterly breathtaking. Transparent-looking smoke-like walls that seemed to be made up of a thousand poppy flowers. The two gates of the great mansion - one ivory, the other made of horn that constantly made unwelcomed visitors victims to the cruelest kind of punishment: lost forever in the Land of Dreams. The secret was, if you _really _were an honoured guest at the House, you would enter _neither _of the two gates but walk straight between them of what appeared to be solid wall, but was in actuality an illusion. Sapphira did just that, successfully entering the House of Dreams that was rightfully hers as well.

'Trouble with your heart, my daughter?' A soft but powerful voice sounded from behind her, startling Sapphira and making her turn around to face her father.

Today he chose to appear as, wait, _what_?

'Why are you appearing as L-Loki, father?' She asked in alarm.

A wise spark glistened in Morpheus-Loki's eyes. 'Because this Norse God is one of the problems, is he not?'

'I have no idea what you're talking about.' Sapphira muttered, not quite meeting her father's eyes. She was never a match for Morpheus, he was her father after all. 'The reason I'm here to see you, today, is that I want something that will hinder my emotions from resurfacing, ever.'

A frown crossed her father's face that made Sapphira think that he already knew everything. 'You do not have to hide things from me, my daughter, I know you are afraid of how this god, Loki, managed to temporarily break your curse.'

So he knew. 'Right. Yes, well, father, can you tell me the reason?'

'You are not going to like it, Sapphira.' Morpheus warned.

'I never expected it to be something good. Could you still just tell me _please_?'

'He is your soul mate.'

'What...?!' Sapphira half whispered, half shouted.

'It's true. You should feel happy about this though, my daughter. He showed up in the prophecy as well:

_The one with a frozen heart will be born to the illusionist and the fey_

_She will not rest until Mount Olympus is merely a useless waste lay_

_The one with the frozen heart would let the mortal world never see day_

_Her lack of emotions might be her downfall, she may lose her way_

_The trickster that made her feel would meet her on a day in May: _

_He is her soul mate, would guide her to success and make her enemies pay_

So you see now, dear daughter? Loki is the one that will help you succeed.'

Sapphira was silent for a long while, a million thoughts running in and out of her mind. The troublesome Norse God was going to help her succeed, he was destined to, he had to... And he was also her soul mate. But that was ridiculous. She would never love anything or anyone! But a small distant voice whispered slyly somewhere inside her head: why not admit that you _truly enjoyed _letting Loki stroke your hair and comfort you? Sapphira quickly shook the thought out her mind. That was a mistake, an _illusion_, she was not herself. She silently vowed to herself that she would _never _show weakness like that again. Finally, she decided slyly that she would try to let _him _fall for _her_, gain the Mischief God's complete assistance, achieve her goal and dispose of him if he proved to be more trouble than he was worth. Little did Sapphira _or _Loki know then, though, both of them were planning exactly the same thing, and _both _smugly thought that they were more clearheaded and had the upper hand.

Unnoticed, Hecate observed the entire event wordlessly. The two people, Sapphira and Loki, no matter how powerful they were and how cunning they both assumed themselves to be, clearly underestimated each other. Well, since none of them asked for help, why should she offer it? Chuckling, the ancient Goddess of Magic retreated back to her home.

'I see.' Sapphira managed at last, looking her father firmly in the eye who had at last turned back into his true form (imagine the masculine version of her, only without the whole weird eyes thing, but more handsome and godly and mysterious); a mercy by his side. 'Thank you for informing me that, father, that piece of information is extremely helpful. By the way, do the other deities in the D.A. (A/N: My gods, people, this is NOT Dumbledore's Army!) know that I'm here?' The D.A. was the abbreviation of Dark Alliance, a powerful alliance formed by the ancient dark divinities that knew Sapphira was alive and intended to help her overtake Olympus. They were all fed up with Zeus' young foolishness and favourism.

'No, they do not.' Morpheus replied, wondering what his daughter was planning again.

'Good, keep it this way. Just please inform them, though, that I think we finally have a breakthrough of Goal One.' In truth, Sapphira simply did not want Hecate to have a good laugh at how vulnerable she became _without _the Ice Curse.

'Certainly. Now is there any other reason you paid me this visit?'

'Actually... Yes,' She began sheepishly, 'could you please teach me how to remain emotionally safe even when me and Loki make skin contact? Right now, I think that my emotions will be my downfall rather than my shortage of them.'

'Prophecies do not lie, child.' Said Morpheus patiently, 'And I know not the answer to that. My suggestion is that, instead of trying desperately to flee from them, you control them and harness them to your use. You are the Goddess of Control, after all. Learn to control yourself, embrace it instead of shunning it.'

'Thank you, father.' Sapphira bowed respectively to the God of Dreams.

With that, she turned and left the House, again holding the poppy in her hand and disappeared, reappearing in the mortal world.

As usual, talk with her father gave her more things to think of than before she went to him for answers - Sapphira did obtain them, but the questions became even messier.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Thank you, darlings, for favouriting and following my story! Review, _PLEASE_?!

Please understand that this would not be the typical Loki love story. Meaning that the girl would not be the innocent, good little saint and our favourite villain would not 'turn good'. They will not be enemies and the girl would not say things like 'No, I will never help you! You evil monster! Good always wins!' Yucks... Well, I promise a happy ending for both of them, okay?

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Thor. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Worlds and had a perfectly evil powerful girlfriend and a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**/^****Frozen Hearts****^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Loki sat in his room, thinking harder than ever before. Normally he was extremely good with reading people and manipulating them, but Sapphira, with all the information he knew about her, remained an almost mystery. Her natural lack of emotions made her almost impossible for him to read, and thus Loki cannot understand her. Furthermore, it seemed as if _she _was trying to manipulate _him_, Loki, the God of Mischief and Lies! That cannot be happening. But then again, Sapphira was the Goddess of Deception and Control.

But not quite yet, thought Loki bitterly, but his eyes softened as if ran the later event, yet again, through his cunning mind. That Greek had succeeded into shocking him speechless by suddenly breaking down without _warning_ the moment he made her feel, when he only wanted to tease her a little bit for forcing him to spill out his early life and the Chitauri. Seriously, was Sapphira even _same_? One moment she was colder than ice, than one moment later she was crying in his arms begging the emotions to stop. That made Loki wonder when was the last time the poor girl had actually felt _anything_. Wait, did he just call her 'poor'? Loki scowled. The last thing he needed was weakness for a girl, even though she was now his powerful ally.

Sapphira had been gone for almost two hour, and the Norse God had given up on trying to search for her. She was obviously not at anywhere near.

She would probably shout a fit at me when she returned, if she would ever, thought Loki in disgust.

Suddenly, he hurt light, graceful footsteps of high heels, apparently not belonging to any of servants. Could it be? He briefly wondered before the figure came into light.

'Ah, so you are back.' Loki drawled, waiting for her raging fit every second.

'Indeed I am. So, when do we start making plans of raging havoc upon the muggle world?' Sapphira asked almost cheerfully. Almost. He knew full well that she cannot feel like this.

'Someone is in an awfully cheerful mood right now.' He prompted carefully before telling her in mild annoyance, 'And it is the _Midgard_, the mortal world, not - what did you call it? - '_'muggle''_. What is the meaning of this absurd word, anyway?'

Loki watched closely as Sapphira's icy blue eyes darkened in barely concealed loathing. 'A _muggle_, is a non-magical person. A.k.a. a dull, ignorant, useless, worthless filth, born to be ruled by us!'

The end of his mouth curved slightly upwards as he fought the urge to smile widely. He and the ice girl may have more things in common than he had originally assumed. Was he like this when he talked about those lowly Midgardians as well? With hateful passion...

'Can't say I disagree with you there.' Loki replied calmly, before looking at her curiously, 'Really, you are not angry at me for earlier?'

Sapphira started at him for a long moment. 'Not really. Not your fault.' Her tone was clear, though, that she did not wish to discuss it, and so he wisely let the topic drop for now.

'Well in that case, I will discuss the plan with you,' Loki began but was interrupted by Dr. Selvig, one of the SHIELD members he held captive with his scepter earlier.

'_What_?' He snapped impatiently while Sapphira looked on quietly.

'Sorry, master, but the Tasseract is giving out great electric waves that can't be explained. We aren't handling it very well!' As if to elaborate, yelps can be heard from the other rooms.

'Well, I suppose we need to go check, huh?' Sapphira suggested, but there was something about her tone and slight over-eagerness that made Loki suspicious.

'Let's go.' He said impatiently and they got to the Tasseract.

Indeed, the powerful blue cube was glowing ever before, and the unimaginable light it gave off was almost enough to blind someone the moment the icy girl stepped cautiously close to it.

'Wow,' Loki heard her whisper in near awe. Did she feel the energy? Was she the reason the Tasseract had been so active?

'What did you feel?' He asked her as she raised a hand and gently touched the Tasseract.

Sapphira did not respond immediately, however, she looked as if she was all but moaning in ecstasy. 'This feels so great! Power, promise, power... What is this thing? I feel as if I can destroy Olympus with a single wave of my fingers as long as I am touching it. Oh my...' Then suddenly she snatched her hand away and turned to Loki with a hard look in her eyes, 'I want it.'

'No chance.' He reminded her, 'The Chitauri wants this, remember? I don't care what grudge you have against Zeus, that's not my problem. We made a deal, and you better honour it.'

Sapphira glared at her but reluctantly backed down, seemingly making a huge effort not to even _glance _at the Tasseract. 'Well then, I cannot stay here where this tempting thing is calling out to me all the time, can I?'

That made Loki have a double take. 'What do you mean the Tasseract is calling to you?'

'Never you mind.' was her quick answer before smirked at him slyly, 'If I cannot have the Tasseract, then I would at least deserve your scepter, don't you agree?'

What was wrong with this girl? 'No, actually, I don't. You're not getting anything else out of the deal, you greedy creature.'

Sapphira hymphed. 'Believe me or not, this is for our benefit. I've noticed your scepter's curious power of controlling people. I have my own way, certainly, but that involves pulling a person's heart out, freeze it, and put it back. It's not quick enough, and may delay our actions. You don't have to give me _your _scepter necessarily, just give me one with a similar ability would be fine.'

Loki considered it. 'I _might_ make a similar one for you, if you prove to be useful enough. I haven't even actually _seen _your abilities, how can I be sure you deserve such a gift?'

'Mmh, that's reasonable enough.' She answered than half-smiled at him. Sapphira was undoubtedly beautiful, he thought, and she might have heavenly smiles if it were not for the annoying 'Ice Curse' she referred to. Her lack of feelings made her unpredictable, and _that _was what made you dangerous...and intriguing.

'Loki, are you listening?' Sapphira's slightly amused voice startled him out of his thoughts, 'You're staring.'

'No I'm not! You're _delusional_.' He muttered, internally cursing the untimely hot feeling on his cheeks. 'You were saying?'

'Whatever. I was saying that you should come and stay in my apartment. I'm sure we can discuss things there _undisturbed_.' She said casually, but Loki was greatly surprised by Sapphira's trusting offer. She must be taking a great step to gain his trust. Then, why not?

'Are you sure? I would love to. Thank you for the gracious offer.' He replied silkily, acting the perfect gentleman.

'You are very welcome.' She said, holding out a clothed arm, 'Take my arm.'

Teleportation. Well, he would expect no less of her.

Loki obeyed and carefully took her slender arm, relishing the pleasant cool feeling. At once, he felt his surroundings melt into familiar darkness, power swirling around them as they reappeared to another place.

'Welcome to my humble home, my lord.' Sapphira curtsied mockingly as Loki took in their surroundings. He found himself appreciating her taste: dark, classic and elegant. Certainly, it was not his most preferable combination of black, green and gold, but rather black, dark purple and silvery gold. Nice enough. The decoration was old-fashioned and luxurious. A machine Loki was not familiar with was playing opera, fitting the general atmosphere of her abode perfectly. The things that drew his most attention, however, were the flowers that seemed to grow everywhere.

Poppies. Poppies of all colours, blooming beautifully and dangerously in the home of the Daughter of Dreams.

'I would not exactly describe your home as so humble, Lady Sapphira,' Loki praised politely and truthfully, 'this place is the best I have seen so far in this wretched Midgard. I assume that you will like my chambers back in Asgard, as well. A wonderful place, Asgard.'

'I'm don't doubt that,' Sapphira turned and went to what seemed to be the kitchen, 'fancy a drink?'

'A glass of wine would suffice, thank you. I would prefer it white, if you please.'

She nodded. 'I like white wine as well.'

Ten minutes later, the two powerful dark deities were both sitting comfortably in the sofa, a glass of iced white wine each in their hands.

'The grapes in Midgard are surprisingly _bearable_,' Loki commented. Truthfully, the wine tasted absolutely amazing.

'Mmh, really,' Sapphira raised an eyebrow, 'that is because this is no Midgardian wine. The wines were produced in Hades, the yard of my castle, to be exact. They were frozen naturally and were simply _divine_. I'm sure you have noticed the silkily sweet and icy taste. The grapes themselves grew in somewhere on Mount Olympus, I recall.'

'Then I'd say that it tasted fantastic.' Loki said silkily, earning a chuckle from his companion, 'You said that you have a _castle_, in the Underworld?'

He had not expected that, since technically, she was not even a _real _goddess, however powerful she claimed to be.

'Why, certainly. I own the Ice Castle, near my father's House of Dreams. That's one of the reasons why they call me Ice Queen. I made the temperature there below freezing. Father was not too happy about that, since most of the poppies he planted there were frozen!'

To Loki's surprise, and unknown to him, Sapphira's, both of them laughed sincerely. He thought to himself that it seemed as if his companymade her warmer, and more _human_. This Sapphira was much, much better than the unbearably cold one that she normally was or the shockingly emotional one when he touched her.

For once in many years, the God of Mischief and Lies, 'Prince' of Asgard, and always second-favourite of Odin the Allfather felt cheerful and carefree. He was happy, with a strange Greek demi-goddess that he had barely met for a few hours.

Whatever the reason for that was, Loki secretly hoped that it will last. 


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: To say I am disappointed with the number of reviews: zero, would be an understatement. Really, darlings, I _know _you are reading this story, so please, a word like 'lovely' wouldn't cost you that much time, don't you agree? Mind, I spent hours writing this story, and you can read each chapter within a minute! To think that none of my readers _bother _to leave an review make me seriously reconsider my decision of posting this story, or continuing it.

You all understand that this would not be the typical Loki love story. Meaning that the girl would not be the innocent, good little saint and our favourite villain would not 'turn good'. I'm not certain if this rather unusual plotline is unacceptable to your taste, so I apologise in advance here: In a story, I write what I truly feel and what I truly wish to happen. I would appreciate suggestions, but sorry, I am not a reader's pet.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Thor. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Realms with a powerful lover and had a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**/^****Frozen Hearts****^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Sapphira was having a good time. Wonderful to be exact. It was as if Loki's _presence_ alone managed to bring some simple feelings back to her, like cheerfulness and content. Perhaps it was the fact that he was her soul mate? She did not know or care. Sapphira was only thinking how can she avoid going through an emotional crisis again, since skin contact was unpreventable if they sat in the same sofa, talking about their plan. She thought about all the options she could have had, but none of them met with her desire results. Suddenly, Sapphira came up with risky idea.

'Loki... May I ask you a favour?' She asked sweetly and got the Norse God's full attention at once.

'Depends on what it is since you already asked for the Tasseract and my scepter. But for this glass of excellent wine, you may _ask_.' He replied silky, making Sapphira smile a little bit.

'Well,' She grew serious, 'can we practice...touching?'

Loki chocked on his wine and coughed, his cheeks slightly pink, but a smirk on his face.

'Not _that _kind of touching, you pervert!' She said, smacking his arm, annoyed.

'Well, you _already _practised that, did you not?' He rubbed his arm.

'You _know _what I mean,' Sapphira hissed impatiently, 'I don't have time nor interest for your games, God of Mischief. I'll get to the point right now, and expect you to listen carefully, for I do not wish to repeat myself. Here are my terms: after I helped you finish the first step of our plan, you are going to allow me to touch your hand and learn to control my emotions when my heart unfreeze temporarily. I will let go when I feel like it, and you are going to cooperate. Do you understand me?'

'No need to get so _hissy_, my dear.' Loki replied calmly, 'I accept your condition. Now, about out plan.'

Sapphira quickly recomposed herself. She had not intended to make herself sound impatient, but apparently her lack of emotions _did _tend to make her overlook the way other people looked at things. Mmh, perhaps indeed, the prophecy was right: her lack of emotions was more of a curse than a blessing, no matter how proud Sapphira was about it.

'Of course,' She said unemotionally, 'so basically, you are going to get yourself caught. I am going to pretend to be the innocent little victim (oh, challenge), get into SHIELD and attempt to obtain inside information. That would not be too hard, I am the Goddess of Deception, after all, and with my controlling powers, it would be a piece of cake really. Who knows, if all goes well, I might even become an Avenger! Though I'd much rather join the _Furies_. No pun intended.'

Loki chuckled. 'Yes, that is basically the plan. Now we need to think up a story for _you_. The Avengers are not none to be trusting, and you need to convince them _entirely _that you are on their side. Now us, Lies and Deception, need to work together and play a perfect game with them being crushed under our feet. Any ideas?'

Sapphira thought about it for a short while. Play the victim, the poor, loveable little girl. That was what she prided herself at, she supposed. Her real-life acting skills were flawless. The Avengers would be _her _victims within seconds.

'Yes,' She answered, looking at the Norse God, 'the best way to gain people's sympathy and trust, as I learnt through experience, is to give them the impression of weakness. Therefore I am going to act an parentless girl, mother died giving birth to me, father a drunk that was killed by a bunch of robbers recently. He left me a small fortune, therefore I can support my life, studying mythology.' Sapphira pointed to the immense shelf of mythology books to emphasise her point, 'You are going to hurt me in front of the Avengers, I will pretend to struggle _really _hard, probably scratch your face with my nail or something, then try to convince them that I can be useful to them. Well, my plan's done, so have you decided on your place of attack yet?'

Loki seemed impressed slightly, the corner of his mouth curved up an approving smirk. 'Good, good. I already decided on that. Tell me, my dear, how do you feel about...travelling to Germany?'

Sapphira raised an eyebrow. 'You're going to attack _Deutschland_? Pity, pity, I rather like that country. So what are you going to do. bomb Berlin straight away?'

'No,' He ignored her slight sarcasm, '_we _are going to Stuttgart actually. And this will be your first chance to prove yourself, so be sure to do your part wisely.'

'Stuttgart, that is rather unexpected...' She trailed off before smirking, 'And since when is there "_we"_?'

Loki smirked right back. 'We are allies. You made the vow, remember? And now when I'm informing you of your job, don't interrupt. As you witnessed back there at the base, the Tasseract is still highly unstable right now. Therefore we would need something to stable it; _you _are going to help with that. Now Dr. Selvig suggested that we try iridium, but inconveniently we don't possess that at the moment.'

'So I assume that you want me to steal iridium at some scientific institute in Stuttgart? How _original_.' Sapphira remarked sarcastically.

'Close enough.' He answered, again ignoring her tone, 'We will be visiting a museum, actually. Get a proper dress, we're to attend the ball there.' Loki glanced up at her expectantly, 'And only the colours green, gold or black would suffice.'

Sapphira raised an eyebrow. 'What, now? Can't even enjoy on single peaceful night as long as we are allies, I see.'

He smirked, not saying another word.

Sighing dramatically, she stood up and walked toward her dressing room, closing the door as she entered. Sapphira went through her huge wardrobe carefully. No, she did not have many green dresses, so cancel that colour. She had always loved black, though. Decision made, Sapphira took out one of her finest black dresses. It was made of high-class velvet, with lace as decoration in some places, and the flowing material went just about her knees. Many parts of the dress had exquisite patterns of gold, and with the black crystal necklace she chose to go with it, plus the beautiful but comfortable (it was technically a stealing job, after all) high heels she put on, Sapphira would be Goddess of Kindness, Freedom and Truth if Loki was not the least bit impressed. To make sure that no one would mistake her as an underage, she used blood red lipstick and black-grey eyeliner. She was just about to move on to mascara when she remembered that in order to fit in the plan, she may very well need to cry herself out later. No, it wouldn't do to have her mascara ruined for later. It wouldn't do at all. With that thought in mind, Sapphira abandoned the mascara and took a last look into the mirror. In this outfit, she looked absolutely stunning, as royal and dignified as any queen should. And with her dark eyeliner, her freezing blue eyes seemed more eerily pale than ever, and they themselves seemed to give out an icy energy. Yes, Sapphira was ready, so she stepped outside of her dressing room.

As soon as she got outside, she _froze _in her tracks. It seemed that Loki had, in the meantime, teleported back to the base and changed himself. The Norse God of Mischief now wore an extravagant formal suit, his dark hair more slicked back than ever, and his scepter somehow turned into a normal-looking cane. If Sapphira did have emotions back at the moment, she would have exclaimed that Loki was irresistibly handsome. But since she didn't, she merely smirked and walked to his direction gracefully with her head held high as he turned around to face her.

'Why, you look quite handsome tonight, my king.' Sapphira had meant to say 'my lord', but for some unexplainable reasons it came out as 'my king' in the last seconds. Despite of the mistake, this word served its purpose - Loki now looked like he can have that satisfied smirk on his face all night long.

'You look stunningly beautiful yourself, _my queen_.' He purred.

'Thank you. Now, shall we leave? Unless you have any other announcement to make.' She said.

'No, I just want you to enjoy tonight while we still can, at the ball. We can have fun first before you steal the iridium and I distract the mortals there. It is the first night of our alliance, after all, and I desire it to be pleasant, as do you, I'm sure.' Loki answered slyly, offering her his arm which Sapphira accepted elegantly.

'Worry not. I will enjoy it in the _utmost standard_.' She laughed shortly, 'Anything to do with acting and deceiving people is my pleasure. And thieving won't be too bad, either.'

'Good, I'm glad then.' He replied, and instantly Sapphira's home disappeared, and they stood in front of a rather large building.

Ah, this was going to be quite the interesting and eventful night, she was sure...

Author's Note: NO REVIEWS, NO NEXT CHAPTER! So yeah, call me the heartless bitch. I take it as a compliment.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Thank you so much, wow, 7 reviews already?! I'm surprised, impressed and truly pleased! Worry not, then, I will continue this story that has at least 6 wonderful readers! Don't worry if I don't update for a few days at a time, though, I'm just focusing on school, but I'll never abandon this story as long as my heart's with Loki! And sorry if some scenes are different from the movie, I can't exactly watch movies, you know... So, well, I simply place the fragments I did watch together and imagined the rest. Will try to keep to the movie details, though!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Thor. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Realms with a powerful lover and had a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**/^****Frozen Hearts****^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

It would be a critical understatement to describe this place as simply 'a rather large building'. If it was not for the fact that Sapphira _hated _emotions and all those exclamations that generally followed them, she would have said that this building was a very elegant building in a place like Midgard. In reality, Sapphira made no comment on their place of the night at all.

As if sensing her deliberate coldness, Loki turned to her with a rather playful smirk and a childish tune, 'Well, how are you liking this building so far, Miss...?'

Oh, yes, she needed a fake name for later.

'Isolde Styx.' She smirked right back. 'Isolde' meant 'ice + rule' in the Norse, most fitting for her. And 'Styx' was one of her favourite places in Hades - a most wonderful river. 'And I'd say that the building is _bearable_. And you, Mister...?'

'Charming King.' Loki grinned and Sapphira, as her emotions seemed to miraculously revive around the Mischief God, rolled her eyes and stifled an almost escaping giggle.

'You should not have created such a _horrid _name for one such as you, _Charming_,' she told him matter-of-factly, 'or people might start to think that you are a fan of _Prince Charming_.'

'Of Prince... Pray tell, then, _Isolde_, who, or _what_, is a "Prince Charming"?' Loki asked her incredulously.

'Oh no, never mind that,' Sapphira dismissed his question with a deliberately annoying arrogant hand gesture, 'experiences have taught me that it is of no use to try and explain a foreign thing to the _illiterate_.'

'How _dare _you, you - ' He started angrily, but she cut him short by locking a well-timed arm with his.

'Now, now, my dear Loki, it would not do at all to have your mood ruined before the night has even began.' She talked to him as if she was educating a child, then she began to mock whine, just to shock and scare the Norse God that was so used to her usual emotionless self, 'You promised a fun night, remember? And I _want _to dance!'

Loki stared at her with a priceless mixture of annoyance, confusion and alarm. 'What in the name of _Asgard _is wrong with you tonight, Sapphira? Have you forgotten about our plan, that you are here to get me the iridium, not to enjoy some useless dancing?'

Sapphira dropped her act and her face became cold and emotionless once more. 'I have not forgotten that, now how could I? If you are to remain my ally, then get used to my way of doing things. I have the fun first, then the killing and the violence. So we're doing this my way, or I'm doing _nothing at all _for you. And about my "sudden change", don't worry your head off for it. It is what I am,' she shrugged, 'the Lady of Illusions. I am Morpheus' daughter, after all; I change all the time. Unlike _someone_, who got stuck in a fight for glory with his adoptive nit-wit pig oaf of a brother, and never even considered of leaving that _stink_.'

She expected Loki to explode immediately at her rather low blow, but instead, to her absolute chagrin and surprise, he laughed.

'_Tasteful_, really tasteful. _Colourful _use of vocabulary. It seems that I am not the only _illiterate _here tonight.' He chuckled again and Sapphira watched him with a raised eyebrow. 'Since you are so keen on having fun tonight, I might grant you a dance before we start.'

Smirking, she took his hand carefully, expecting a wash of terrible emotions. But shockingly, they did not come. Or rather, the emotions appeared, but not in a noticeable or frightening way. It was as if the moment Sapphira had semi-consciously accepted the fact that Loki was her soul mate, the unfreezing process stopped to pain and torture her. The new found emotions merged into herself gently and pleasantly. She cannot help but feel truly happy again and smiled widely.

Loki seemed surprised as well but didn't comment. He too, secretly, was enjoying the fact that Sapphira and him can make skin contact with her feeling once more without pain.

'Before we enter,' he paused to look at his companion, 'it is best for us to run our plan over once more - '

Sapphira groaned in real annoyance, 'Oh _please_, spare me that. You will get some man's eyes and teleport the cornea to me so I can use it to get the iridium. And then, blast, blast... You scare the people out, I teleport the iridium back to the base, and bang, I got thrown outside and get bullied by you. So, did I get everything correct?'

Loki raised an eyebrow. 'Yes indeed. It is hard, though, to get used to a you that can actually feel, like everybody else. It's fun really.'

Sapphira simply shrugged and they walked inside, like a normal couple. The hall was crowded, but just as elegant and _glorious_ as any other ball. A small band was present, and no one questioned, or even _noticed _their entrance, for that matter. It was just the way that she desired it to be. The last song had just ended, and the new one was just starting. Sapphira batted her eyelashes and Loki in a silent invitation, and he fought a smile as he guided at her to the dance floor.

The most sinister pair in the world started to dance, slowing and gracefully. He twirled her around, following the song's beats. Sapphira was thoroughly enjoying it, and had an ever-present smile on her beautiful face that almost radiated with life and joy. Loki had his hand on hers during the entire process, and she enjoyed the whole thing too much to shake it off. Finally, the song ended and Loki reluctantly, almost sadly, brushed his hand away. Almost immediately, Sapphira grew cold the inside out, and she breathed the last breath of her temporary emotions out. Her eyes grew hard like steel almost instantly. Now she felt slightly disgusted at herself for enjoying dancing with the Norse God so much.

'Well, now we would part. I will get going now, and please mind that when I finish my first part, I may change my appearance greatly.. I have no interest in the Avengers recognising me from their security tape.' Sapphira smirked, a glint of almost madness in her ice blue cat-like eyes, 'Let the game begin. Good luck.'

'Good luck to you too.' Loki whispered as she turned and walked up the stairs, unnoticed. She used her magic to search for the iridium, and she found herself in front of a locked safe within seconds. From the distance, Sapphira can hear the terrified screams of the people below. She cannot help but smile in twisted satisfaction as she thought of the ways _she _can scare thousands of people away. Anytime now that Loki would teleport cornea for her to open the safe. Sapphira was not wrong. Mere moments later, the specially-made device in her hands glowed a magical blue light, sending the confirming cornea into it. She promptly put the device in front of her eyes and the safe immediately opened to reveal the trophy. Smirking with accomplished pride, Sapphira carefully took it out and quickly teleported the iridium to Dr. Selvig. Before she went down to join the fun, she closed her eyes and concentrated on changing her appearance. When Sapphira opened her eyes once more, they were strangely blue no more. Now they took an angelically innocent water-green colour. Her hair that was once as black as the Styx now turned into a lively blond shade. Sapphira looked an entirely different person. Thank you, father; she silently whispered her thanks to the abilities she was gifted with and dashed down the stairs, putting on the act of a frightened young girl.

The hall was almost completely empty now. Sapphira managed to squeak in terror as she too, flee outside and was instantly faced with several illusions of Loki. She hoped that he can recognise her like this and he at once recognised her dress and jewels. Loki pretended not to notice her, so as to not rise suspicion.

'Kneel before me!' Loki commanded, than raised his voice and bellowed at the mass of frightened people, 'I said, _kneel_!'

Everyone turned instantly silent and kneeled down one by one. Sapphira painfully swallowed down her pride and reluctantly half-kneeled.

The Norse God began the speech that would remain within her mind forever. 'Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?' He started to walk into the crowd, 'It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom...diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.'

Sapphira cannot help but feel slight admiration and respect for Loki that she had never felt before. His views were highly similar to her own, and she mentally nodded at every point he made. Oh yes, they had more things in common than they imagined possible. Pulling herself away from her thoughts, Sapphira decided to start playing.

'No!' She stood up defiantly, 'I will never kneel to you, maniac! _Never_! You scare me not with your fake-glorious, empty words...'

Beside her, the crowd seemed to be holding their breaths as one. Loki smirked maliciously. 'Oh, is that so? Well then, it's your own fault - ' Without warning, he roughly dragged Sapphira away from the crowd and pressed the end of his scepter against her neck, hard enough to draw blood. To add effect, she let out a pain-filled shriek.

'Will you kneel now, you foolish little girl?' Loki hissed.

'Not to men like you!' She choked out, bravely.

'There are no men like me.' He answered, glaring at an internally chuckling Sapphira.

'There are always men like you.' She shouted.

'Look to your youngling, people. Let her be an example!' Loki replied coldly and pointed his scepter at her. Sapphira shut her eyes and stumbled back, expecting to be 'saved' by SHIELD any moment.

To none of the two's surprise, the blue light was blocked by s _shield _(ah, the sarcasm) at the last moment and it hit back at Loki instead, who fell back in 'surprise'.

Before them stood her 'rescuer' in all his glory: Captain America.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Thanks a lot for all the lovely reviews, haha! And get more of them coming, please! I'm not trying to sound more of a bitch than I _already_ am here, but really, I merely said that I will post Chapter 6 because I got reviews, I didn't promise, though, that I will continue the _story _if I receive no other reviews from now on! Ouch, I'm playing with words again... Bad influence of Loki, Voldy, Rumple and many others, sorry! Well, I _do _hope that every reader of mine can _at least _give me **1** review! Come on, most of you have posted stories, and you _understand _how simply _divine _reviews mean to the story author! Thank you! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Avengers_ or _Thor_. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Realms with a powerful lover and had a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**/^****Frozen Hearts****^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

Sapphira throw herself at her 'rescuer' to show her gratitude. In front of them, an annoyed-looking Loki was just trying to stand up, supported by his scepter.

'You know, the last time I came to Germany, a man put himself above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing.' Steve Rodgers said arrogantly, wearing, in Sapphira's opinion, totally _hilarious _outfit. Much less interesting than Loki's green, black, and gold armour and peculiar antler head piece.

'Ah, the soldier,' he glanced at Rodgers in disdain, 'the man out of time, but here taking precious _time _to save a worthless little girl.'

Sapphira tried hard not to laugh at the Mischief God's sarcastic humour. She glared at Loki from a little behind Captain America.

'_I _am not the one that's out of time here.' the hero then softened his tune and turned to her, 'Are you alright, ma'am?'

'Y-yes, I'm fine. T-thank you, Mr. Rodgers, you have always been my biggest hero, and now I'm even a bigger fan of you!' Sapphira 'excitedly' leapt up to hug a very embarrassed Captain.

Loki started to aim his scepter at them and just then a helicopter hovered above their heads with a huge gun pointing at him.

'Loki, drop the weapon!' A female voice boomed, most probably the infamous Black Widow, Natasha Romanov's.

He, however, didn't obey but instead aimed it at the helicopter, sending a blast of blue energy that almost knocked it down. Sapphira screamed in pretentious terror as Rodgers launched at Loki, almost crushing him down. A chaotic fight started, and the Norse God used his inhuman physical strength and magic as one to fight Captain America. She can see that Loki was losing deliberately, and she decided to play it deeper into the game.

Sapphira shot forward and punched him in the stomach, causing Loki to double over in pain and surprise. Their eyes met for the briefest moments, and his green-blue eyes shone with approval only visible to her sharp eyes. _You play it well, just don't strike so hard next time_. Loki's eyes seemed to say and Sapphira mentally smirked before a pair of hands urgently pulled her aside and the two men started fighting once more, with Loki creating several illusions of himself to surround them. Just then, a burst of ear-piercing disgusting muggle music sounded from above, and all three of us momentarily stopped and glanced upward.

'What the - ' The Norse God started to say before getting knocked onto the ground on his bottom by none other than the world-famous Iron Man, Tony Stark the billionaire playboy.

'What's your move, Reindeer Games?' Stark's deep voice said mockingly from his ironman armour. Ouch, 'Deer's wounded pride.

Loki did not reply, but simply but on a mildly defeated look and held his hands in front of him, and moments later his armour and head set morphed back into his body.

'Good move!' Stark said and he, too, changed back into his usual self. Both heroes suddenly turned to me, as if noticing me fully.

'Now, who's this charming young lady here?' Stark asked flirtingly and Sapphira tried hard not to vomit.

'Oh, you should have seen her, she was brilliant! Stood up against Loki twice, and even punched him in the stomach. Skilled punch, I must say, no offense, ma'am. And might I inquire you name is Ms...?'

She fake smiled. 'Styx. Isolde Styx. Nice to meet the both of you, Mr. Rodgers, Mr. Stark.'

'Oh you're rather well-behaved! And please, such a pretty creature like yourself should get the right to call my Tony straight away!' Stark grinned and from the corner of her eyes she saw Loki, now in cuffs, glaring heatedly at the flirting playboy. Oh, the fun.

The two men manhandled Loki to the helicopter and Sapphira put her fake story into this part of the game. 'Um, kind sirs... I don't exactly have a family, and my only residence is in New York City. But I don't really dare to go back there, memories of my recently dead father kept rushing back to me, and I just... I just - ' She started to sob in earnest, and the superb acting skills the Goddess of Deception possessed got her the full sympathy and trust of the Avengers immediately. Inwardly, Sapphira smirked in triumph. If only they knew that she was literally _unfeeling_...

'Oh good god, poor girl... Mmh, how about you come with us back to New York and join the Avengers, Isolde?' Stark suggested and Rodgers nodded in approval.

'Yes, let her come, she has fighting talents, and she is brave. Well, get on then, Ms. Styx, I'll do the explanation with Natasha and you, Stark, can fill Fury in. I'm sure no one will disagree.' Rodgers said and Sapphira, smiling gratefully, stepped on the helicopter. Loki was positioned in the seat across her, observing her intently.

A red-head clad in black emerged. Oh, the Black Widow in person. Sapphira's first thought was that this one was not too easy to deceive. She was right, for the moment she saw her, her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she took in Sapphira's appearance.

'And who's this, Tony? Another one of your girls?'

'Oh no, actually, Ms. Romanov,' she answered for herself, 'I will be joining SHIELD, if it's alright. I have nowhere else to go, see. My mother died giving birth to me, and father blamed me for that, and he kept beating me for the past 17 years. He died five weeks ago due to excessive drinking.' She put on a deceiving pitiful look, but to her chagrin, that Russian _bitch _wasn't buying it.

'Well, I say it's _not _alright, since we don't just accept suspicious new members with open arms, you know. Anyways, you are coming with us, and let's see what Director Fury would think of you and your..._story_.' Then Romanov gave her hard look as if to say 'I'm going to keep an eye on you'.

Sapphira pretended to look hurt and lowered her head. 'Come on, ma'am, no need to give Ms. Styx a cold shoulder. She - '

Rodgers was cut off shortly. 'I know what I'm doing, Captain, and I don't call it a "cold shoulder". I call it _caution_. And unless she _proves _to be trustworthy, I see no reason to welcome her in.' Then she walked off to the pilot cabin.

Sapphira sighed dramatically and pouted. Stark and Rodgers tried to comfort her by calling the Black Widow one name dirtier than the last one and she had to force herself to giggle.

It was a long flight from Germany to America. After a long while, almost everyone started dozing off. Everyone except Sapphira, Loki, and the Black Bitch driving the plane. The Norse God obviously cannot use magic well with his specially-made cuffs, so Sapphira unnoticeably used the hyptonising powers she inherited from her father to the agents around her. Mere moments later, they were completely asleep, and now it was just she and Loki awake.

'I thought Morpheus use magical sand.' he began in a casual chatting tone, 'But obviously, some legends are not completely true.'

'The sands are for show actually,' Sapphira answered in the same light tune, but hid the thorns underneath, 'in truth, father can force a thousand people into the Land of Dreams with a mere flicker of his fingers. I can too, in fact, if I get my full powers. _Will I get my full powers_, Loki? And don't forget, you still own my a scepter, I played my first part well, did I not?'

The Mischief God smiled thinly. 'You will get them, in time. And as for the scepter, as you can see here, I am the _prisoner_. Your dear Avengers already took _my _scepter away, worry about _yours_ later. And now, I am curious about your completely different reactions to the two times that we made skin contact. You have any idea why?'

'No, not the tiniest.' Sapphira lied smoothly, but she forgot that she was facing the _God of Lies_, not just any others.

'I am the God of Lies, my dear, do you really suppose that you can fool _me_? You forget to whom you are speaking to.'

'No, I don't think so, _darling_. You forget to whom _you _are speaking to: I'm the Goddess of Deception, you think I cannot manage to play you perfectly in my game if I _so desire_? And the thing right now is that I'm make no efforts to conceal the truth from you.' She replied silkily.

'What truth exactly?' Loki spit out the word 'truth' like venom. Sapphira couldn't blame him, she felt the same way.

'You are not going to like it. If you don't want to hear it, then don't.' She warned. Gods knew, she_ detested_ what she was about to reveal.

'Oh, please, you are deliberately hanging me off a cliff. Not that I haven't already fell off one.' Loki said impatiently, glanced at the still sleeping people around, 'So whatever this supposed big deal is, tell me right now, I _hate _to be kept in the dark.'

Sapphira licked her lips. 'Very well. Loki Laufeyson, you are my s ='

Just as she was about to say the words 'soul mate', Stark woke and began to stretch, looking at the two of them curiously with just a tiny bit of suspicion. At that moment, Sapphira thought that the Fates hated her. Or maybe they did, who knew? But they were her grandmother's daughters, still.

'What are you two chatting about?' Stark asked her, frowning.

'I'd not call it "chatting", Stark,' Loki replied smoothly, 'that silly little girl was throwing outrageous threats at me just then. Real pitiful.'

Sapphira snorted. 'Oh, yeah? Pitiful, am I? You see, Tony, I was just telling this _pitiful deer_ - or is it _goat_? - how I'll punch him another hundred times in the stomach.'

The foolish muggle/mortal roared with laughter, and Rodgers was startled awake instantly.

'I can't believe I fell asleep!' The blond boy exclaimed.

'Well, believe it.' Suggested Loki sarcastically.

'Shut up, you, I'm not talking to you at all.'

The Norse God was just thinking up a clever reply when the plane shook violently as unnaturally strong lightning nearly splitted the sky open. Loki stared upward with a mixture of shock and slight worry. Sapphira frowned and felt rather alarmed. It cannot be that Zeus had found her last, can he? Throat dry, she struggled to keep her face calm.

'What, scared of a little lightning?' Stark taunted, not noticing that she had a similar look on her face.

'I'm not overly found of what follows.' Loki answered quietly just as terrible thunder roared from somewhere nearby, and a moment later an oaf-like man wearing a red cloak jumped onto the verge of the plane. Sapphira shrank back, expecting 'Zeus' to end her life any moment. Instead, the man grabbed Loki quickly and took him flying out of the plane. It all happened so fast, and she was ever so relieved that she cannot feel. Or she would have screamed in fear long before then.

Then it dawned on her, and a small, almost empty smile graced Sapphira's lips. That was Thor, the _Norse Thor_, not Zeus. She was safe...at least for now.

But the same, it seemed, cannot be said about the poor Loki.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Thanks a lot for all the lovely reviews, haha! And get more of them coming, please! I'm not trying to sound more of a bitch than I _already_ am here, but really, I merely said that I will post Chapter 6 because I got reviews, I didn't promise, though, that I will continue the _story _if I receive no other reviews from now on! Ouch, I'm playing with words again... Bad influence of Loki, Voldy, Rumple and many others, sorry! Well, I _do _hope that every reader of mine can _at least _give me **1** review! Come on, most of you have posted stories, and you _understand _how simply _divine _reviews mean to the story author! Thank you! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Avengers_ or _Thor_. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Realms with a powerful lover and had a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**Frozen Hearts**

Loki's 'abduction' caused an instant uproar. Nearly everyone dressed up in their 'hero suit' and jumped out of the plane. Sapphira strongly wanted to go after Thor, but what excuses did she have for that? Up to now, she had tried so hard to act like she was an unthreatening innocent girl, she cannot blow up her cover now. Or maybe there was a way to get both things she wanted... A sly smile crossed Sapphira's lips and she created an illusion of herself sitting on the chair as the real her stood up, inspecting the perfect illusion. Sapphira should have considered this option sooner, she was the Goddess of Illusions, after all. Illusion magic was in her nature, and she bet that even Loki was not her match at this. Making sure that the pilot did not have her attention on her, Sapphira closed her eyes and transformed herself into a midnight black owl with eerie icy blue eyes of her _real _self, and flew out of the plane.

She had forgotten how simply _wonderful _it felt to fly. The feeling of the cool evening air caressing her wings and heightening her sharp senses. The clouds looked like masterpieces of art. Sapphira felt safe and peaceful in the night, and she instantly knew that Nyx, Goddess of the Night, her grandmother, was watching over her. She focused on Loki's magical energy. It was quite easy to locate, since its sinister Norse features can be recognised from anywhere. Sapphira quickly teleported herself to the location, and found herself hovering just above a high cliff.

She could instantly recognise Loki, whose slicked back dark hair made a striking contrast to Thor's messy blond curls. The former appeared to be just getting up.

'Where - is - the - Tasseract?' Thor demanded violently.

'I missed you too, brother.' The Mischief God laughed the question off in fine irony.

Sapphira internally smirked at the Thunder God's pathetic attempt of being threatening, and apparently Loki thought so as well. Just as they were about to get into a quarrel, Thor suddenly glanced up at her. But that was not possible, she looked impeccably like an owl that merged seamlessly with the night!

'I think we have company, brother. Did you bring that bird to spy on us?' Thor asked, not taking his eyes off Sapphira.

'Whatever to you mean - ' Loki began, but momentarily froze when he saw the owl. He could recognise her eyes anywhere; anyone could.

'Well no I did not,' he began again but Sapphira had already used the distraction to disappear within the clouds. She flew higher above, making sure that Thor cannot see her anymore. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, overseeing everything with her third eye. The two Norse Gods were shouting at each other, and Sapphira saw most clearly for the first time that how broken Loki truly was inside, despite the cold and careless mask he put on himself. He had a broken childhood of being overshadowed every single minute. She cannot help but wonder how much sympathy she would feel toward him when he touched her again. Well, at least _she _was never overshadowed - Sapphira did not even exist to anyone past her allies. Not truly; only through her feared titles throughout the mortal world.

A few moments later, Thor got blasted backward and this instantly got her attention and she flew down. Ah, of course... Iron Man was fighting Thor now, oh my, wasn't this fun! Loki simply observed the whole thing quietly beside them. It ended with Thor, the Almighty Norse God of Thunder defeated by a mere mortal wearing stupid iron-made outfit. Sapphira snorted, but as she was an owl, it came out as a funny weird hoot instead. Seeing that they were heading back, she quickly teleported herself back to the helicopter, having no time to enjoy her flight any longer, and changed back into human form, making the former illusion disappear as she did so. Sapphira stretched.

A few minutes later, the Avengers returned with both Norse Gods, one looking bored and undisturbed with his still-on cuffs, and the other looking thoroughly disheveled and annoyed, but with no cuffs.

Thor had his eyes fixed on her, and Sapphira tried hard not to blink or betray any emotions. Worry not, she told herself, you are a perfect illusionist, he might think you unusual as a bird, but even Zeus cannot see past through you illusion like _this_. Regardless, Sapphira still felt, no, _experienced _an instant dislike for him.

'Oh come on, thunder boy, no need to scare Isolde here!' Stark said loudly, breaking the both of them from their demi-trance.

'I apologise if I offended you, Lady Isolde, I didn't realise I was staring.' Thor forced out. Well, well, well, it seemed that the dislike was mutual. She was going to have a difficult time deceiving this one.

'It's alright. So, let me guess... You are _the _Thor in Norse Mythology, right?' Sapphira asked in mock curiosity.

'How did you know that? And yes, I am. That over there, is my brother - ' ('I am _not _your brother, Thor _Odinson_!')

'Loki, yes,' she cut Thor off with pretended loathing, 'I don't think I'd like him much, though. As far as I can see, he's pretty unbearable.'

'Loki is not always like this,' he said sorrowfully, ignoring the said god's incredulous grunt.

No one _bothered _to answer to that. After a while, they arrived at SHIELD at last. It was an immense helicopter (A/N: Terribly sorry, darlings, but I _really _forgot that long name! English is not my mother tongue so I truly cannot manage to guess that word... Well, it won't hinder you from understanding, right?). Excellent, now the game finally began, Sapphira thought to herself. Everything can go according to plan once she got Fury's trust; if the Director _himself _was at her side, Thor and Romanov put together cannot stop her.

'Ms. Styx, come with us please.' Black Widow said to her coldly and she obeyed without complaint. Meanwhile, Loki was being '_escorted' _by a dozen armed men to the opposite direction. He gave her a barely noticeable wink as he went.

'Don't panic, Isolde, just a little _chat_ with _Nicky_.' Stark assured her.

'_Director Fury _wants a detailed _interrogation _with you, Ms. Styx.' Romanov corrected emotionlessly and Sapphira merely raised an eyebrow good-naturedly in reply. So much for acting the sweet, warm girl... But coldness was in her nature, it was in her _heart._

They walked silently to a kind of office and the Russian knocked. A few seconds later, the door opened automatically. A fierce-looking black man with an eye patch sat in there, watching Sapphira's every move as she walked in fearlessly.

'Out, Stark, and wait with the others until I pay this Loki a visit.' His command left no room for objection.

When the door was closed once more, Fury gestured to her. 'Sit. Now we have some questions for you, and we expect you to answer all of them truthfully. Understood?'

'Yes, sir.' Sapphira answered respectfully, uttering her first lie.

'Good. First of all: what's your name?' The flat professional tune.

'Isolde Asteria Styx.' She lied smoothly, liking her fake name more and more every second.

'A rather...unusual name, in my opinion.' Fury hinted.

'My father was fond of mythology, sir,' Sapphira replied with a look of grief in her eyes, 'before he passed away a few weeks ago.'

'Well that's unfortunate, my sympathies.' He did not sound the least bit sorry, though. As if neither he nor Black Widow was believing a word of it. Time to put her special powers into use.

'Now the most important question: why do you want to work for SHIELD?' Fury asked at last.

Sapphira had practiced for this. Moments after the question was asked, she mentally created magical poppy flowers and made them float just above the two people's heads, unnoticeably confounding their judgment and made them feel insensible trust toward the Goddess of Deception, daughter of Morpheus.

'Well, sir, since my father's death, I barely felt a purpose for life anymore. I went travelling the world, and happened to be inside the museum ball in Stuttgart today. That madman - Loki - was terrorizing all those innocent people, with me included. Suddenly I felt a new passion in life, and it is to stand up against the villains and fight for what's right. I tried to fight him, I even punched him in the stomach, regardless for my own safety! Mr. Rodgers and Mr. Stark saved us all, and I totally an their biggest fan right now! Sorry sir. I hope you understand that my reason for joining SHIELD is like a phoenix born from the flames, it cannot be clearly explained. But please sir, I want to fight all evils in this world, I'm not afraid - I have nothing to lose!' Sapphira finished 'desperately'.

Both Fury and Romanov looked convinced, and she knew with content that her powers were working perfectly, as usual.

'We believe you, Ms. Styx.' Fury told her with a faint smile. 'Heaven knows we _do _need a new recruit like you! You are still a little too young for hand-to-hand combat, so the first mission we assign you - it would be a toiling test for you, be warned - is to keep a close look on our newest prisoner. You've encountered that Loki before, and I was bombarded with tales of your heroism just a few hours ago. You would be the most ideal person for that particular task. Of course, as you are new, you will have a supervisor in times of need. Try your best, and get as much information as you can from him, but don't hand him any fact that can he can hurt you with, he's a madman and a genius put in one. Terrible mix, if you ask me. Well, I think that's about it. Congratulations, you are now officially _Agent Styx_!'

Sapphira stood up in fake joy and excitement, staring at the director with admiring and thankful eyes while inside, she was cackling wickedly. Oh dear, those _mortals _are _too _easy for her to deceive.

'Thank - thank you so very much, Director Fury! I will try my very best! I can't believe I'm really a SHIELD agent now!' She exclaimed.

Black Widow was still eyeing her with eyes colder by the second. Well, you can't please everyone.

'Stop the childish behavior, you are an agent now.' Fury scolded and Romanov sneered at her, 'Come now, you will be an interrogator for the first time in your life. Don't mess up.'

And just like that, the Goddess of Deception walked smugly behind her 'boss' and 'supervisor' to visit the Norse God of Mischief and Lies in his hilarious fish ball of a cell.

A/N: Sorry for the pitiful amount of Loki/Sapphira (L/S for short from now on) scenes in this chapter! But you understand, this is necessary for the plot! Next chapter will be _stuffed _with L/S, I promise! Review please! What do you think of the chapter?


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Thank you a million, my darling reader _LaFay96_! Three reviews, wow! I'm so glad that you enjoy my HP elements! I _only _write unusual/abnormal stories really, and it's the utmost relief for me to know that you like my story! Thank you, all of you! Enjoy the chapter! (For the love of Loki, I would not _dare _to slow down! ^.^)

P.S. I found a Loki pillow in a Chinese online shop! Can you believe it? Oh my gods I'm so happy! Like super+ happy! I'll tell you how _the touch of Loki feels on my skin_ when I got that Christmas gift! (My mom promised to buy it for me, and I screamed 'I LOVE YOU, MUMMY' five times or so in ten minutes!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Avengers_ or _Thor_. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Realms with a powerful lover and had a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**Frozen Hearts**

The situation could not have gotten any funnier, thought Sapphira. She was accepted as the welcomed new Avenger, and Rodgers and Stark were both celebrating, meanwhile introducing her to the others. There was this Hulk that Loki had mentioned before, no surprise that the Mischief God would like to have fun unleashing that monster. Well, they would have to wait and see. And then according to them, there had been a Hawkeye that should have been with them, but was controlled by Loki at the moment. Sapphira had an idea as to which one they were talking about.

'Be careful when you're alone with Loki, Lady Isolde,' Thor warned her in a tune that she found herself disliking, 'he has always been good at manipulating people. If he says something that offends you, just ignore it keep a hard face.'

'Thank you, but I think I'll manage. One has to learn to ignore taunts and jibes if she has no mother.' She answered coolly.

'Very well then.' He forced out, then refused to speak another word to her. Oh, how she wondered why. Mmh, perhaps she can ask him that, it would be fun to see him struggling for a polite answer.

'Thor, could you _please _tell me why you dislike me so much?' Sapphira asked him with a slight pout without warning.

'W- what? I do not dislike you, I just don't _like _you.' Thor stuttered, apparently taken aback by the straight question.

'I see no difference between them.' She answered innocently and the Thunder God sighed in exasperation.

'Well, if you must know the truth, it is because of your starling likeness to my brother. You may look all sweet and innocent, but I can see deep inside your eyes what I see inside Loki's. Please do forgive me if I wronged you, but you seem a female version of him to me.'

Sapphira was bewildered, and gods knew she _hated _that. How could Thor had seen right through her? Her acting skills were perfect!

'Oh.' she replied as if offended, 'So you hate me because I seem like that _psychopath _to you. I get it now. So if you'll excuse me - '

She rushed passed him, ignoring his shouts and ran to Loki's cell. Fury was there, already, showing off their equipment.

'If you so much as scratch that glass,' he was saying smugly, 'we throw you into thousands of meters of air.' Fury pointed to the machine and Loki peered down in indifference. He suddenly caught sight of her, and he laughed loudly.

'So, you mortals are going to send a stupid little girl to guard me? I'm _so _impressed by your _ingenuity_!' He said sarcastically.

Fury ignored him and turned toward her. 'Oh good, Agent Styx, you're here to start your work. Now I am going to leave you and see how well you are. I'll be watching you, good luck.'

With that, he left Sapphira alone with her 'prisoner'. They each locked each other with a silent glance, both knowing full well the game they were about to play. Games were in their nature.

'So, of all the people Fury can send, he picked the most pitiful.' Loki began, 'You think you can win against me, little girl?'

'No,' she answered with a smirk that came as natural, 'I _know _I can.'

'Oh, and pray tell, why is that, you lowly Midgardian?' He sneered.

'Well, for one thing, you and I both know why you're here.' Sapphira picked the riskiest way, a.k.a. the safest way.

A look of question, a look of confirmation, and they continued.

'_Reeeeally_,' Loki drawled (A/N: Just imagine Draco, OK?), 'then do you mind telling me your supposed theory?'

'It's no theory, it's the truth. You cannot win for you are not playing it...' she flicked a finger and froze everything and everyone else in magical ice that they would not even feel, '...dirty enough.' she finished, smirking, changing her appearance back into her real self.

The Mischief God looked around in mild admiration and grinned in widely. 'Oh, this is just wonderful, a talent of yours I assume? And if I'm not wrong, then I'd guess that those foolish mortals would not even remember being frozen in any way.'

'Exactly.' Sapphira nodded and teleported herself into the cell. 'I have something to ask you - '

'No wait, _I _have something to ask _you _first.' Loki cut her off, 'That thing you were about to tell me on the helicopter, what was it?'

Her lips formed a thin line. It had been a sort of impulse to tell him about the soul mate thing earlier, and she had nearly made that mistake. It was a wrong, not well thought-out decision, and Sapphira was not about to try again anytime soon.

'Later. Now is not the place nor the time for that.' She replied curtly.

The Norse God gave her a hard, piercing look which she held calmly. 'Whatever it is that you're not telling me, I promise you I _will _find out by myself sooner or later. This may be the _truest _words that came out of my mouth, mark my words. Now, what is the question you wanted to ask me just then?'

'I think we have a problem,' Sapphira gritted her teeth as she said the word 'problem', 'your _dear brother _Thor, that dunderhead, said just a few minutes ago that you and I are very much alike - when acting sweet and harmless is all I'm doing! He suspects me, I'm certain of it. Now you know him better than I do, tell me the reason for that.'

Loki smirked mischievously, twirling a lock of her hair almost affectionately. 'Oh, but that's _your _problem if Thor isn't fooled by your facade, not _mine_. But you know, you _are_ rather _cute _when you are frustrated and defeated, which I would dare to guess is not often.'

She snatched her hair out of his hands and glared chillingly at him. Those words had gotten to her more than they should have, and Sapphira cannot afford turning soft. But _was _she turning soft? Perhaps, then, that it was because of the trueness of his words that disturbed her so much. For once, _she _was the vulnerable one. Oh, the irony.

'What, cat got your _icy tongue_?' Loki chuckled, provoking her more and more, 'My, you are growing even _more _adorable when you're silent and upset. It's one of the best entertainments I've - '

Before he can finish, Sapphira slapped him, hard, across the face, leaving a faint pink hint on Loki's cheeks.

His eyes flashed in anger. As swift as lightning, he had cupped her chin in his palm, hard enough to hurt. 'Now you listen to me carefully, _little Ms. Ice_,' he spat, 'you are inferior to me. You deem yourself a goddess, but you're not. And unless you show me some respect, you will never _ever _obtain full immortality! I am a Norse God, and what are you? Some pathetic cursed Greek _mortal _who has more ambition than she can handle in her _weak _mind and body! Who do you think you are to slap _me_ - '

Before he can say more, Sapphira had pressed her lips roughly, almost demonically against his, shocking all kinds of reactions away from Loki. The confusing mixture of rage and passion in her chest was too much to bear, and can only be expressed through a kiss as wild and violent as their souls. The ice in their hearts was so chilling that it burned their minds away like flames in hell, numbing their senses as their tongues finally crushed against each other, the feeling as addictive and sinister as the sweetest opium. Reason tried to take over several times, but was quickly overcame by overwhelming passion raging out from both of their bodies. The kiss was not of love, far from it, but it possessed an intensity that Sapphira did not imagine possible until now as she shared the Norse God's breath. They were soon panting and she took the chance to wrap her legs around Loki's waist, but not before being shoved forcedly onto the cell wall, the force of it sending stars to her eyes. But she enjoyed the passion-filled pain too much to complain. She bit his lips hard and tasted blood. Loki gasped, clearly enjoying the pain as well. They paused to stare into each other's eyes, both were filled with lust and longing.

'Are you...out of your mind?' Loki panted out finally, drawing her mouth away inch after inch.

'Maybe I am,' Sapphira breathed, 'but I want so desperately to _feel _to care. And you do not seem to be too calm either, don't you agree?' She stole a sly glance down at his crotch where a _huge_ bump was growing.

He growled deep from his throat, and the sexiness of it almost made her eyes water. 'It's all your fault. Why kiss me when I was yelling at you? Why? What am I to you, just another play doll?'

Loki had lost control over his emotions as well, and there was pain in his eyes that she never wanted to see again. Without thinking, Sapphira whispered, 'No, you're my soul mate.'

Shock froze the air, and he broke away from her.

'_What_ did you say?' Loki asked in shock.

Right then, somebody cleared his throat from outside the cell.

A/N: Cliffhanger, haha! Be warned, their love would be basically this dark and demonic/!


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Thank you, all of you, for the wonderful reviews! Oh yeah, she _finally _told him! And about having guts, I'm not brave at all, actually. I just have rather unusual ideas that are unacceptable to some people, but anyway, thanks for the compliment! Enjoy the chapter! (For the love of Loki, I would not _dare _to slow down! ^.^) Please review more!

P.S. I found a Loki pillow in a Chinese online shop! Can you believe it? Oh my gods I'm so happy! Like super+ happy! I'll tell you how _the touch of Loki feels on my skin_ when I got that Christmas gift! (My mom bought it for me online, and I screamed 'I LOVE YOU, MUMMY' five times or so in ten minutes!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Avengers_ or _Thor_. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Realms with a powerful lover and had a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**Frozen Hearts**

Sapphira turned around sharply. She hissed in annoyance as she saw that the speaker was the _worst _possible: Thor. She rapidly jumped away from an equally startled Loki and teleported herself out of the cell, but the harm was done. In the intensity of their kiss, Sapphira had lost part concentration to maintain the freezing enchantment she had used, and Thor, being a god after all, broke free. And even _more _unfortunate, she did not have enough time to place the appearance illusion on. Oh dear...

'Who are you? I _know _I shouldn't have trusted you, you fooled us all! You're with Loki, I knew it! And I bet that your real name isn't Isolde Styx, am I right?' Before she can reply, Thor had already summoned his hammer and sent it flying through the air toward her, and the force and speed of it sent Sapphira crushing into a wall nearby. The hammer was so bloody strong, she thought through the pain, if she was a mortal her stomach would have been turned the inside out. Even with all her powers, Sapphira cannot seem to lift the hammer physically or magically away from her body. She wriggled her body to get free, but the accursed hammer was preventing her from getting away. In her exhausting attempts, her spell had broken, and everyone began to unfreeze. And dear gods, it was as awful as Sapphira imagined. Fury started demanding her identity, and when they discovered that Isolde was a fake cover, the Avengers were shocked and angry.

'I _told _you that she cannot be trusted.' Black Widow said smugly, putting specially-made cuffs on Sapphira.

'Who are you really? Don't force us to use the hard way.' Fury warned, glaring at her with loathing. Rodgers and Stark were both looking at her with confusion and hurt. Ouch.

'What, or you are going to _rape _me?' She laughed and her head pounded, 'You can't possibly wish to _scare _me. No one can.'

'Put her inside the cell!' Fury commanded.

'No, I don't think so.' Thor protested, 'She and Loki are together, I saw them snogging _feverishly_ just then! You can't possibly - '

'I know what I'm doing, Asgardian. And unless you have a better place to keep that _girl version _of our trickster here, she is going to stay put in that cell! No ideas? Well then, here you go.' The director said fiercely and Sapphira was shoved into the cell she had just gone out, facing a very amused-looking Loki.

'What's _your_ problem?' She snapped. Her first failure at deception at left even the unfeeling Ice Queen in a _very _bad mood, especially since she dearly regretted kissing the troublesome Norse God of Mischief and Lies who (unfortunately) happened to be her ally _and _soul mate.

'Oh, nothing you would desire to know.' Loki replied with a casual shrug, but his eyes were saying 'you know what I wish to discuss, but we obviously cannot do so _here_.' Sapphira mentally sighed. Of course, the kiss just now had drove her near insensible, and she even admitted to him that they were soul mates! No doubt now he wanted to learn everything _else _she was hiding. Sometimes it disturbed her that she can read him so well - or maybe he can read _her _just as easily?

'It just strikes me as amusing,' he continued, totally ignoring the closely observing Avengers outside, 'that one who prides herself so much in the art of deception should get uncovered within so little of time - what, one hour? That must have been a record for you.'

'Do you have a slapping wish _again_, Loki?' Sapphira's voice was chillingly sweet, 'You are unbearably _childish _and _annoying _today, even for _you_. No offense _intended_.'

The corner of Loki's mouth twisted strangely. 'And _you_, my dear, are unbearably _icy _and sarcastic today, even for you. Oh no wait, what did Thor say just now? Yes, you were _feverish_, how slow and _foolish _of me. _Do _forgive me if offend you, but you know I would never do that _deliberately_, do you not?'

Not so rarely lately, her patience snapped. 'If I recall, _you _were the one that couldn't keep his lips off me!'

'If _I_ recall,' answered Loki mockingly, 'you positively _smashed _your lips into mine, only one step from begging me not to stop.'

Sapphira can hear faint coughs and whistles from the outside. From which two it came from, she could not have been more certain. The Mischief God was trying to provoke her, she knew, and she would _love _to see how he would manage to do that to her frozen heart. But as the message of the game was clear as day, Sapphira decided to play it along.

'That is certainly _not _something you should suggest to a lady, _my lord_. Is _that_ what Norse gods normally do? Or is it just you?' She shot back, pretending not to notice that most of the Avengers had retreated and watched them from the video camera. Sapphira suddenly found the loophole in her words and before Loki can point it out for her she added, 'And don't you say that what I did was unladylike. I would be a lady only when I'm with a _gentleman_.'

Loki pursed his lips. No answer came out.

'Why, did I _finally _get the God of Mischief speechless?' It was her turn to tease and also her turn to turn speechless.

'Not quite, no.' He turned to her, smirking that mischievous little smirk of his that she would _never _admit that she actually found it attractive, 'I think that you suggested that I am not a gentleman. In that case, I _really_ don't need to be so...civil toward you anymore.' Loki purred, getting dangerously close to her. His hand was already out.

'Don't touch me.' Sapphira warned.

'What, scared that you will lose control a_gain_?' Loki prompted.

'In your dreams, _Norse_!' She rolled her eyes.

'Mmh, perhaps, _Greek_!' He kicked the ball right back at her.

'My goodness, for two big badass, you resemble spoiled children more!' Romanov's voice rang from outside the cell, and both of them turned to throw her distasteful glances as one. Meddling bitch.

'What, don't stop! Did my appearance unsettle you?' She went closer until she was standing right beside the cell wall.

'No, it's more like your _existence_,' Sapphira began to sneer a snarky comment the same moment as Loki said calmly, 'Not many people can try and sneak up on me.' (A/N: Sorry, mom not allow me to watch movies. I can't remember their conversation in details. Will create my own lines. Hope you understand and like.)

'I did not t_ry _to sneak up on you. I _did_ startle you two.' Black Widow continued, and Sapphira wanted to flay her alive right there. Honestly, just how _disgusting _can a muggle mortal be?

'State your business and be gone.' She told the redhead icily.

'Why, Director Fury is most curious about you.' Romanov said carefully, her gaze locked with Sapphira's chilling blue eyes fearlessly. 'For starters, we would like to know your name. Your _real_ name.'

'Oh, only my name? Well, it's... Cagna Ti Odio.' She lied effortlessly, chuckling internally. The name meant 'bitch I hate you' in Italian. She wanted to see exactly _how _stupid those muggles were.

Loki raised an eyebrow at her, obviously confused.

'Cagna Ti Odio?' Romanov repeated incredulously, 'That's quite the weird name. You from Italy or something? But Loki called you Greek!'

'Well it's not _that _weird. Cagna ti odio. Get it now?' Sapphira asked sarcastically as she watched the Avenger's face turn from white to red.

'You are a _she-demon_.' Romanov spat as both the prisoners laughed.

'Why, thanks for the compliment.' Sapphira replied, smirking.

'I'm not in the mood for games. Now, are you from Greek Mythology or something?'

'Oh my, you are quick! _Hopelessly _quick, actually.' She chuckled, 'I'm afraid, however, that you won't find me in any of the books.'

'What do you mean? And what is your relation to Morpheus?'

'Excuse me?' She questioned, slightly uneasy.

'So I'm right. How else can you explain the poppy in your hair?' Romanov smirked, but Sapphira's mask didn't quiver the slightest bit.

'You two just continue ignore me, go on.' Loki muttered sulkily.

'Excellent.' Black Widow drawled, turning to the Norse God, 'But _now _I'm going to chat with _you_.'

What they talked about, how Loki threatened the muggle, Sapphira didn't know, for the next moment she was being dragged most urgently into the Land of Dreams by her father. He had no illusion on, unlike he usually did.

'Father, what - ?' She began.

'No, no time for this now, listen to me, my daughter.' Morpheus sighed heavily and looked her in the eye anxiously, 'You are safe no longer. Zeus somehow discovered your existence, through Athena.'

The weight of the news got Sapphira out of breath. 'But... How is that possible? We took every precaution! How did Athena - '

'What did I tell you about transforming yourself into an owl?' he sighed again as he saw her starting to realise, 'Owls are Athena's, you know that all too well, so why didn't you listen? Why? By foolishly turning into an owl, you have allowed her access to you!' Her father all but shouted, 'By making that mistake, you have put yourself, and everybody else in the Dark Alliance into a most perilous state!'

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Sapphira wanted to sob out, but those words, like her heart, got frozen halfway. So instead, she asked as calmly as she could, 'Did Zeus bring you any trouble yet?'

'Not _yet_, but he's coming to get me as we speak.' Morpheus swallowed, 'My time is short. But that doesn't matter, the important thing is that _you _must be safe. Here, a gift from Hades, take it, quick!'

Reluctantly, Sapphira took the god's famous helmet. 'Hades' helmet? Are you sure? That's his treasure!'

'Positive. It makes the wearer invisible, yes, put it on and never take it off. Hecate had casted spells on it so that only you can see or touch it. I hope this can buy you some time before Zeus uses Helios to find you eventually. I know you're not ready yet.' her father smiled thinly, 'I have always been proud of you, Sapphira. You remind me so much of your mother Morgana sometimes... I know you will win. Be care - '

Before Morpheus can fully finish his sentence, he was pulled out from the Land of Dreams, and one that possessed such almighty power can only be Zeus King of Olympus.

'Be careful, father...' Sapphira whispered as she transported herself back to the human world, ready to face all dangers and uncertainties that may lie ahead.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Please give me your lovely opinions! I'm waiting for at least four more reviews to make it twenty! Thanks! Enjoy the chapter! For the love of Loki, I would not _dare _to slow down!

P.S. Oh my gods my Loki pillow is finally here! Hell yes! His eyes are so unbearably green, you could drown in them... Loki's 'skin'is cool and silky and welcoming, oh my gods I'm so happy! ^.^

Disclaimer: I do not own _Avengers_ or _Thor_. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Realms with a powerful lover and had a happily ever after!

_I am Loki of Asgard,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

_I am Sapphira of Hades,_

_and I am burdened with_

_glorious purpose...and a frozen heart._

**Frozen Hearts**

Sapphira exhaled silently as her mind was back in the glass cell again. Loki was still conversing with Black Widow, who now had her back to them. 'You're a monster.' She sniffed.

Sapphira raised an eyebrow. 'No, _you _brought the monster.' Loki sneered, but right then Romanov faced them with a tearless face.

'The Hulk, you meant to release the Hulk...' She hurried away.

'What?' They asked confusedly in unison.

'You were not quite talkative just now, what was the matter?' Loki turned to her with a piercing stare.

Sapphira's fingers unconsciously travelled to the top of her head, and found with relief that the invisible helmet Hades had lent her was indeed there, unseen by any others. 'We will talk about that later.'

He shot her a suspicious look but let it go since they were being watched. 'One of those days, you are going to _choke _on your own secrets, _Sapphira_.'

'Oh, _wonderful_, now thanks to you, SHIELD knows my name!' She snapped, trying to block out unwelcomed visions of her father being tortured and questioned by Zeus. Ignore them, just ignore them...

'Well, does it matter? They're bound to find that out sooner or later.' The Mischief God replied, unfazed.

Just then, a sound of explosion reached their ears. Smirks of triumph crept up to both of their faces as they got the signal of Loki's men coming to get them out.

'Well, it's about time we're getting out.' Sapphira commented drily as shouts and gun shots seemed to be near.

'Indeed. Look, here they are!' Loki said smugly. Several of his men went rushing to their direction, and after a few moments at the controlling system, the door of their cell opened and they both got out. Loki at once went for his precious scepter, and he resumed his _glorious _look as he held the object of great power once more.

'Now this reminds me again, you still own me a scepter.' Sapphira reminded him.

The Norse God laughed as he blasted a dozen guards. 'No need to remind me that every hour my dear, I'll copy it for you after we get out of this place as soon as I have time.'

She shrugged and the corner of her lips curled in a malicious smile as a number of agents came into sight. The Ice Queen held out her slender fingers, and instantly the men were bombarded by hundreds of ice daggers as deadly their mistress. She laughed as most of their bodies were soon drenched with their own blood. A few of the agents were swift enough to duck or jump aside, and just as one of them was about to raise his gun, Sapphira appeared right beside him, knocked the gun from his hands, and with well-practiced elegance she pulled his heart out, froze it by her mere touch, and put it inside his chest again. The man's eyes changed colour, from brown to a pale, pale, blue. Sapphira smirked to the awed humans and spoke a simple yet terrible three-word command to her new Ice Puppet, 'Welcome them in.'

'Yes, mistress!' He answered in earnest and he shot all the five remaining agents. Their bodies fell to the ground.

'Well, I'm impressed.' Loki commented, 'But how is that "welcome them in"? They're now dead and useless!'

'Mistress, he's questioning you! Shall I kill him for you?' The Ice Puppet offered hotly, glaring at an amused Mischief God.

'No, you shall _not_!' Sapphira replied coldly, 'And you will treat him with as much respect as you treat me. You will address him as "my lord", or you will displease me. Is that clear?'

'Yes...yes mistress, I beg for your forgiveness...' He trembled under his queen's icy glare.

'Does that happen often?' Loki asked in between small chuckles.

'Almost every time.' Sapphira answered and made a silencing gesture, 'Shush now and watch the show. It never gets boring.'

He seemed confused at first but immediately frozen in mid-sentence as one of the corpses' hands started to move. And another. And another. The dead bodies stood up, their eyes a lifeless white-blue. Automatically, they kneeled before the her.

'Mistress.' they chanted as one, 'In death we serve as the Frozen Undead to thee, Ice Queen, Mistress of Hearts, Lady of Illusions. We are thine. Command us, Your Iciness.'

They only rose when Sapphira had gestured them to.

'Oh my...' Loki muttered in admiration, 'You can control the dead as well? That's necromancy.'

'Well, of a form, yes. But as those bodies are already blood, their brains are frozen with their hearts, unfortunately. They don't have much intelligence, but...' she smirked proudly, 'They are almost indestructible. Therefore, they serve there purposes.'

'_Almost_?' the Mischief God echoed slyly, 'Fire will destroy your dead puppets, am I right?'

'Well, fire will _hold_ these puppets _off_.' Sapphira corrected with dignity. But yes, fire _can _burn them into ashes forever dead. She looked back at her Puppets again.

'You five, prolong the Avengers' arrival. And you,' she pointed to the Ice Puppet, 'stay here and guard.'

'Yes, mistress.' They said together and all obeyed.

'I bet that Thor would be the first to rush here.' Loki said.

Sapphira shot him an incredulous look. 'No, that's impossible, my Frozen Undead will keep them busy for at least a day. There is no way that oaf of a god can possibly - '

Before she had finished, however, she heard a roar and swishing sounds that seemed terribly like the Thunder God's hammer. And then sounds that seemed like heads rolling on the floor.

'What did you say again?' Loki smirked at her rare shocked face.

'Well,' Sapphira replied slowly with a mischievous smile that matched the Mischief God's, 'well... Let's play!'

As one, the two professional illusionists made an illusion together of the cell gate opening and the two of them walking out, just as Thor went running to stop their illusions.

'No!' He yelled and ran to the cell, passed straight through them...and was immediately locked safely in.

'How many times are you going to fall for this?' Loki sighed mockingly as he and Sapphira disillusioned themselves.

'Oh, Loki, don't be too hard on the him.' she said with cruel sarcasm, 'You _know _his IQ is barely pass ten!'

'Yes, you're right.' he glanced at his adoptive-brother distastefully. 'I see it now. Mmh, I wonder how we can play with him... Sapphira, any ideas?'

'So _that's_ your real name!' Thor then banged at the cell wall, 'Look, I know you're not as cruel as Loki, so please - '

'Not as _cruel _as him?' Sapphira laughed mirthlessly, 'I am the _symbol _of cruelty, you dumb oaf of a Thunder God!'

For a moment he simply stared at her in pure shock. Loki leaned casually against a wall, watching the fun with smirking eyes. Sapphira glanced around, and her gaze rested upon the control system. A wicked smile found its way to her red lips. The Mischief God was apparently thinking about the same thing.

'Ah, I see Sapphira has come up with an idea.' He smirked as she walked gracefully to the system.

Thor's face was a hilarious mixture of every emotion imaginable. And if she can feel, Sapphira would have burst out laughing.

'The humans think us immortal,' Loki said, watching her studying the buttons carefully.

'Indeed,' she said as she found the appropriate button. 'shall we test that, then?'

'We shall.' The Mischief God agreed. Just as Sapphira was about to send Thor 'flying' into thousands of meters of air, an agent, Coulson or something, jumped out and threatened them with a gun. Its end was pointed directly at her.

'Stay away from the system.' He warned.

Sapphira smiled, undisturbed. 'Oh, I don't think I will.' What she didn't expect was that Coulson fired a bullet at her without hesitation. The searing pain in her upper arm caused her to flinch and move her hand away from the system, but she didn't cry out. Something unrecognisable flashed in Loki's emerald eyes, and before Sapphira can do anything he teleported himself behind Coulson and drew the scepter through his heart. As the agent slid to the floor, dying, he walked to her, inspecting her arm.

'I can take care of myself. You should have left him to me.' Sapphira said through gritted teeth.

'I don't think so, just look at your bleeding arm.' Loki said firmly as he gently held her arm. His fingers were at once red with her blood. 'Let me heal you.'

She tried to snatch her arm away, but winced as more blood started to gush out of the wound. 'Al - alright. Thanks.' She bit her lips as Loki's refreshing cool energy of magic rushed through her arm, and within seconds her arm was healed. After she casted a cleaning spell to make the blood disappear, Sapphira smirked at Thor and pressed the button. The glass cell was immediately thrown into the air, falling...

'You are welcome. Just don't be caught by surprise again.' The Mischief God replied with a small smile. Oh dear, could it be that he was satisfied with her rare vulnerability?

'Well, everybody makes mistakes.' Sapphira answered and glared at the dying Agent Coulson.

'You won't win,' he croaked out.

Loki sneered. 'Oh, and why's that?'

'You lack conviction.' Coulson answered and Sapphira snorted.

'I don't think I - ' But before he can finish, he was blasted into the wall.

'Wow, world record, shot two villains within two minutes.' Coulson breathed weakly and Sapphira, in anger, kicked his arms to one side and penetrated them together with her six-inch heels, causing him to yelp in agony as bright red blood drenched his sleeves.

'Blood for blood!' She spat out

'There she is! Get her!' She heard shouts from behind, and with an arrogant smile she ran through the hole in the wall and jumped safely on their waiting plane. As she expected, Loki was already sitting there, his hair slightly messy.

'Ah, so here you are. I almost thought that you changed your mind and joined the Avengers instead.' He joked and Sapphira rolled her eyes.

'Sorry to disappoint, I didn't join them. My heels, though, _did _join Coulson's arms.' She responded in the same tone.

Loki raised an eyebrow. 'And how did it feel?'

'It felt...' Sapphira suddenly shot him a half-playful glare, 'What kind of a question is _that_? What do I want me to say, that revenge is sweet?'

'Ooh, don't tell me you _tasted_ his blood? Or worse, his - '

'Shut up and apply more hair gel, you pervert!'

She wanted to just live right now. She didn't want to worry about Zeus, the Avengers and everything, or to worry about how Loki might take the piece of heavy news that she herself had dreaded to hear for the last several centuries.

Sapphira would rather stay and argue with the Mischief about hair gel, and escape reality that went crushing down on her...

A/N: So... Loki healed her, how sweet! Well... I have a slight warning here. My mom watches me more closely than usual when I use my computer, meaning that I have to be especially careful to write fan fiction without her finding out, so updates might be slower! I am going to need much encouragement, so please, don't let me lose my courage, and tell me what you think!


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: May or may not continue the story. Depends on your lovely opinions. I'm waiting for at least five more reviews before I would write or post the next. Thanks, enjoy the chapter! For the love of Loki, I would _try _to keep up the pace!

P.S. Now I put my Loki pillow on the sofa. Hug him and KISS him every day, haha! I love staring at him, his eyes are so unbearably green, you could drown in them... And Loki's 'skin'is cool and silky and welcoming, oh my gods I'm so happy! Just by staring at his face I might get a climax! ^.^

Disclaimer: I do not own _Avengers_ or _Thor_. If I did, all the Avengers would have been tortured to death by a thousand Crucios and Sectumsempras. The Hulk would have been left to burn in Tartarus to pay for his unforgiveable crime of hurting Loki. Thor would have been forced to endure ridicule of the people on the streets by eating slugs in public. And above all, Loki would have ruled the Nine Realms with a powerful lover and had a happily ever after!

**Frozen Hearts**

They were safely back at the base, at last. Sapphira wanted nothing more than to teleport herself back home, take a shower, then collapse onto the bed. But relaxation was not for her, never had been, never will be. After she briefly washed her face, Sapphira walked quietly to the chair Loki was sitting in.

'You have something to tell me.' It was not a question.

'Indeed. And it isn't a piece of good news, I'm afraid.' she paused to let the words sink in, 'Zeus knows that I'm alive, now he's taking my father as hostage. The Olympians won't stop until I'm caught and executed.'

'And this concerns me, because...?' She had expected the question, and so was well prepared for it.

'As you know, you're my soul mate, and the prophecy said that I will overthrow Zeus with _your _help. Naturally he'll want you hunted down as well. It's a threat for the both of us.' Sapphira said calmly, observing the Norse God's reactions.

'Ah yes, and then there's this soul mate problem.' Loki sighed, absentmindedly smoothing his hair, 'Exactly what does your Fates have in store for us? Two people with frozen hearts cannot _love_!'

'I have no more clues than you do, Loki. The Fates... They hardly reveal _anything _to _anyone, _but they don't make mistakes. So, are you going to help me or are you going to turn me in and obtain some wondrous reward?' She smiled crookedly.

'I will not be _against_ you; we are allies, after all. But how exactly can I _help_? I'm Norse, and I know next to nothing about your world! Not to mention that I still have the Avengers _and _the Chitauri to deal with. Oh, and Midgard to rule.' Loki finished with his signature smirk.

Sapphira considered about it for a moment. 'Just make sure I get out of Midgard. You Norse have a...a Bifrost, do you not? I need you to transport me to somewhere the all-seeing Helios cannot find me. Asgard, perhaps? Any part of the Norse worlds is fine.'

Loki nodded slowly. 'Yes, that is possible. Just mind, _we _have an all-seeing Heimdall as well. I'm not sure Asgard is the best choice for you, though. Suppose Odin threw you right to Zeus? I'm thinking about Jotunheim, actually.'

She coughed. 'Excuse me, _Jotunheim_? I have no interest in staying with a bunch of giants, thank you very much.'

He rolled his eyes. 'Not simply giants, Your Iciness. _Frost _giants. That planet is completely frozen. No sunlight, no warmth...ice everywhere. You'll find yourself right at home, I'm sure.'

Sapphira sighed. Was he really that childish or was he just pretending? 'I'm not talking about the surroundings; I couldn't care less about that. What I'm worrying about is that the Frost Giants won't accept me with open arms!'

Loki was silent for a while. 'Well... So it's Asgard, then? That won't be too difficult, once I offer the Tasseract to the Chitauri I will have unlimited powers. Victory is close at hand.'

'I hope so.' was the curt reply.

More silence. Then Loki's tone turned into something she cannot readily recognise. 'I...I want to show you something.'

'What kind of a thing?' Sapphira asked, guards up.

'You'll see. I'm all yours to judge.' He answered, still in that strange voice, taking a deep breath. She frowned, bewildered. Then Loki's skin began to slowly change colour, soft blue began to appear on his pale skin, spreading from his hands to his face. His water-like eyes turned to a burning red. Like fire. In his Frost Giant form, Loki looked like a wondrous song of ice and fire; glorious, like an angel from heaven and hell.

'You're..._beautiful_.' Sapphira breathed, not noticing that one of the Mischief God's naughty finger had gently touched hers, awakening the emotions inside of her.

'"_Beautiful"_?! You think so?' Loki shook his head in disbelief and self-loathing. 'Wrong use of adjectives. More like terrible and monstrous! That's what you think of me! Just admit it!'

Sapphira took a deep breath. Why couldn't he just understand? Her head was already pounding, and he was making it worse. 'You're not a monster, Loki, you are _powerful_! Gods, you are almost like a small child... And you haven't exactly seen _my _true form either. Well, nobody truly have, I guess. Being who I am has its side effects; I sometimes put illusions over me without meaning to. But since you've shown me your true form, it is only fair that I _try _to show you mine. Alright, now put your hands on mine.'

When he obeyed, Sapphira closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could. She mentally commanded all her disguises off. Nothing happened at first, then the more her heart melted, the more she seemed to feel a sort of magical wave running through her body. Sapphira knew that it was the change; after so many futile attempts, she had finally done it by the touch of her soul mate. As the process drew to its end, Sapphira opened her eyes. She saw Loki widen his eyes, heard him gasp.

'So... Do I look a crone or something?' She asked playfully.

'You, your... Ears, eyes...' Loki stuttered uncharacteristically, gaping at her, 'Look at them yourself! Can it be - ? No, that's not possible, but all the features, you're a...'

Sapphira rushed to the nearest mirror and her eyes widened. She now had pointed elfish ears, and what shocked her most were her eyes. The irises were icy white with familiar faint blue markings in them, and the whites were completely...black.

'Dark Elf.' Came a shocked whisper from be her. Sapphira turned around sharply.

'No,' she said decisively, shaking her head, 'that's not possible. My father is a Greek god, and my mother was...a dark sorceress. _If _I am a Dark Elf, as you claim, then my mother would have to be one herself, which is virtually impossible - '

'Nothing is impossible!' Loki all but shouted, a mad glint in his emerald orbs, 'Just because you didn't know your mother's real identity, doesn't mean that she didn't have one! And look at yourself, this is solid proof. If you are _not_ a Dark Elf, then what else can you be? No answers, see? Accept the fact that you're a Dark Elf then, why don't you? - Just as I accepted the truth that I'm an adopted Frost Giant! You're supposed to be the Goddess of Ice, are you really this _weak_? I know you rule over illusions and deceptions, but how can you allow _yourself _to be lied to?'

His words struck a core. How _dare _he call her weak? Oh she was going to show him how very wrong he was. 'That's quite enough.' Sapphira answered icily, 'But do forgive me if I don't trust your words completely; you are the God of Lies, after all. However, I'll put the assumption in mind and inquire my family about it.' Why didn't Morpheus tell her? Why? But that didn't matter, for her father was probably in the middle of an interrogation right now.

'Are you certain about that? Think again.' Loki suggested silkily, 'You are a hunted person. Zeus, and almost every other Greek deity, will have you caught on sight. Most of your allies will ignore you to maintain their own safety. I'm the only one you have right now, Sapphira; and it is my words that holds everything.'

Much as she hated to admit that, the Mischief God had a point.

'Be that as it may, I still wish to return to my apartment. I need some time to think things straight.' Sapphira said finally. It was only a half-lie; she had suddenly remembered that her father had, when she was only little, gave her a sealed box and told her solemnly that she was to open it when she felt lost and confused. Sapphira now definitely fitted the requirements.

'Very well.' Replied Loki curtly and she teleported herself back to her apartment. Muttering a secret spell, she summoned the box into her hands. It looked just as she had remembered it, jet black and shiny despite its oldness, with an enchanted gold lock. She took a deep breath and tried to unlock it.

It opened automatically to her touch. Inside it folded a simple scroll of paper. Its ancient scent screamed the word 'secrets'. Carefully taking the scroll out, Sapphira hesitated for the briefest moments, then she unfolded it with uncharacteristic trembling fingers. From anticipation or fear, she did not know. It was her father's handwriting, she could recognise it straight away -

'Sapphira, my dearest daughter:

If you are reading this now, then Zeus must have already rediscovered your existence and held me as prisoner. What I am about to tell you is important, and you must not panic or get angry that I have kept this from you for so long. I concealed the truth of your mother's identity from you, my daughter. She was not only a very powerful sorceress, but also the one and only trueborn daughter of Malekith, King of the Dark Elves. Yes, my daughter. Morgana was a royal Dark Elf, and through her bloodline, you are the last remaining heir to Malekith, the highest of all the other Dark Elf royalties. I am sorry, dearest, if this is too much a shock for you, but you must understand that Norse Mythology is very real, and the Asgardians in your favourite storybooks will use their utmost strength to hunt you down - almost as much as the Olympians would. You are the Dark Heiress they do not yet know exist (I hope), so you can use that to your advantage. Here is something you must always remember: your safest place is no longer in Hades, but in Svartalfsheim. Find a way to get there, and you will get all the protection and guiding you will need. Malekith would treasure his blood with all his might. I know you feel confident about your magical abilities, but you must understand that to be a true Dark Elf, an immortal creature you have fought to be for so long, you need Malekith. Complete the transformation, and you will be more powerful than ever before; Olympus will tremble under your might - and if I dare to suggest, your soul mate's as well. One day you will smile in Zeus' blood.

Please forgive me for keeping this from you, again. Forever remember, my dearest, I love you. -Your father, Morpheus'

As soon as she had finished reading it, the paper burnt itself into ashes. Sapphira felt a single tear slide down her cheek. For herself, her father, or even Loki, she cannot say. She let the tear out, and cried away the last drop of what was left of her innocence. So it was the truth, she was a Dark Elf... Sapphira gazed into a mirror and laughed mirthlessly. Wonderful, simply fabulous. Now she cannot even seek peace in Asgard, all worlds hated her. Just imagine Odin's face when Malekith's granddaughter returned with Loki... That would be catastrophic. But suppose that the Asgardians did _not _find out her true identity... Sapphira gazed into the mirror again and her reflection smirked slyly. Closing her eyes, she willed her appearance back to its normal state. Now, at least, she looked human once more. Dark. Beautiful. _Lost_.

Sapphira began to weave different plans, and all of them were linked to one person - Loki. To find out more about Malekith, she needed Loki. To reach Svartalfsheim, she needed Loki. Loki, Loki, always Loki... The Norse God had somehow filled her whole world, as ridiculous as that sounded. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her, silent and powerful.

'I would like to comment that not many people can sneak up on me, but then I would be stealing your line.' Sapphira drawled, putting on an indifferent mask, hoping that Loki cannot guess that she had cried as she turned to face him.

A smile-like smirk. 'So, I assume that you believe that you're a Dark Elf, then?'

'Not just a Dark Elf, Loki.' she smirked, 'The Dark Heiress.'

There was genuine shock on the Mischief God's face. 'You are related to _Malekith_? Well, well, I did not think it possible, but you, my dear, are growing more intriguing by every single moment.'

'Oh, I am _intriguing _to you? Why, God of Mischief, I'm honoured, to be sure.' Sapphira smiled mischievously, almost seductively at him. She saw him hiding a smile.

'The honour is all mine, my dear.' Loki purred, his face nearer.

If she was going to lose it all, if it was she against the worlds, what would it hurt to just...let go? Why not enjoy life to its fullest extent? Why not, for once, try to lay down her pride and to something she had wanted to for a long time?

Gently, so unlike the last time, Sapphira pulled Loki's face to hers. He responded eagerly, their lips crashing and tongues dancing. This time, it was not sinister, impulsive or malicious; it was a true kiss, a sweet one, one that bore the new-found understanding between them. They paused for a breath.

'I have been waiting for this for a long time, my dear.' Loki nibbled her earlobe and she struggled to bite back a moan.

'What a coincidence, so have I.' Sapphira breathed, circling her legs round his waist.

'Oh my, aren't you the eager one?' Loki teased but the rest of his sentence dissolved into a gasp-like moan as she gave his crotch a light yet firm squeeze.

'I knew _that_ would shut you up...' She grinned wickedly as she was pinned down to the floor.

'You are going to get punished for this, my dear.' He kissed her all the way down to the neck.

'Show me what you've got, God of Mischief.'

And he did. For half the night.


End file.
